What is Capranica known for?

Hazelnut DOP grown on the surrounding Cimini slopes, with Capranica part of the Città della Nocciola network. Noble family that took the town in 1305 and hosted Petrarch in 1337, the period that gave the centro storico its present form. Marked stage on the Canterbury-Rome pilgrim road, threading the hazelnut country between Sutri and Vetralla.

Capranica is a comune in the province of Viterbo, Lazio region of Italy, about 60 kilometers from Roma.

Lazio · Viterbo

Capranica

A medieval hill town on the old Via Cassia, taken by the Anguillara family in 1305 and remembered as the place Petrarch stayed in 1337.

60 km / 37 mi

Nearest hub (Roma)

6,302

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Capranica sits in the Tuscia at the fifty-fifth kilometer of the Via Cassia, on a hill overlooking the Sutri valley between Lake Bracciano and Lake Vico. The Etruscans worked this ground; the medieval borgo grew along the Cassia after the road was rebuilt in the second century BC. The Anguillara family appeared in 1305 and held the town through most of the fourteenth century. In 1337, under Orso degli Anguillara, Francesco Petrarca stayed here on his way south, the moment local memory still attaches to the place. Castrovecchio is the oldest quarter, a wedge of stone houses and stepped streets above the Castello degli Anguillara. The town is one of the Italian comuni crossed by the Via Francigena, with a marked stage running north toward Sutri and Vetralla. Hazelnut groves cover the surrounding slopes; Capranica is a member of the Città della Nocciola network and supplies the Tonda Gentile Romana, the local DOP variety.

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Gallery

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Known for

Castello degli Anguillara
Medieval fortress at the head of Castrovecchio, seat of the Anguillara family from 1305 and the place Petrarch stayed in 1337.
Castrovecchio
Oldest quarter of the town, a wedge of stone houses and stepped streets rising above the Cassia toward the castle.
Chiesa di San Francesco
Fourteenth-century Franciscan church on the edge of Castrovecchio, with fresco fragments and Anguillara family tombs.
Via Francigena stage
Marked pilgrim stage on the old route to Rome, running north toward Vetralla and south through the hazelnut country.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the walking months in the Tuscia, when the hazelnut groves are green and the Cassia is light. July and August push the slopes into the low thirties; the medieval centro storico holds shade well enough, but afternoons stay quiet. The hazelnut harvest runs through late August and September and the air around the town smells of toasted nuts for weeks. November through March is quiet and cold, with rain off the Cimini. Several trattorie close for winter but the Via Francigena pilgrim route stays open year-round.