What is Ronciglione known for?

Won the RAI Borgo dei Borghi national competition in April 2023, the tenth edition of the program. Five kilometers north sits the highest volcanic lake in Italy at 507 meters, a protected reserve since 1982. Nine contrade race riderless horses through town at the feast of San Bartolomeo in late August, a Palio descended from the sixteenth-century Carnival.

When is the best time to visit Ronciglione?

Apr–Oct. April through June brings the Cimini hills into green, hazelnut groves in flower and Lake Vico cool enough for the morning. September and October are the harvest months, dry, mild, with the air clear enough to see Monte Cimino from the Rocca. July and August touch the upper thirties and fill the lake with Romans on weekends. November through March is quiet. The Carnival in February or early March is the exception: three days of allegorical floats and the Corse a Vuoto, granted by Paul III in the sixteenth century and still drawing visitors from across the province.

Where is Ronciglione?

Ronciglione is a comune in the province of Viterbo, Lazio region of Italy, about 59 kilometers from Roma.

How do I get to Ronciglione?

From Roma, Ronciglione is roughly 59 km by road.

Lazio · Viterbo

Ronciglione

A tufa-brick borgo above Lake Vico, fortified by the Prefects of Vico and crowned Borgo dei Borghi in 2023.

Known for

BORGO DEI BORGHI 2023
Won the RAI Borgo dei Borghi national competition in April 2023, the tenth edition of the program.
LAKE VICO
Five kilometers north sits the highest volcanic lake in Italy at 507 meters, a protected reserve since 1982.
CORSE A VUOTO
Nine contrade race riderless horses through town at the feast of San Bartolomeo in late August, a Palio descended from the sixteenth-century Carnival.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

The festa: Bartolomeo, 25 August

Why come

Ronciglione sits on a tufa spur five kilometers north of Lake Vico, the highest volcanic lake in Italy and a protected reserve since 1982. The first record of the town dates to 1103. The Prefetti di Vico built the Rocca whose twin towers, called I Torrioni, still guard the only natural access to the historic center.

Pope Sixtus IV and Pope Paul III both passed through. The Farnese turned it into a Duchy, and the Baroque Duomo of 1671 holds a polychrome marble altar and a fifteenth-century Viterbo triptych. The Carnival of Ronciglione, granted by Paul III in the sixteenth century, runs three days and culminates in the Corse a Vuoto, riderless horse races between the nine contrade for the feast of San Bartolomeo.

In April 2023 the RAI program Il Borgo dei Borghi crowned it the most beautiful village in Italy. The hazelnut groves of the Cimini hills surround everything.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Ronciglione’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

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What to see

Rocca dei Borgia (I Torrioni)
Medieval fortress of the Prefects of Vico, twin round towers guarding the only natural approach to the centro storico.
Duomo dei Santi Pietro e Caterina
Baroque cathedral of 1671, polychrome marble altar, fifteenth-century triptych by a Viterbo painter, wooden statue of San Bartolomeo.
Lago di Vico
Volcanic lake at 507 meters, the highest in Italy by altitude, surrounded by the Riserva Naturale del Lago di Vico since 1982.
Borgo medievale
Tufa-brick centro storico inscribed in I Borghi più Belli d'Italia and named Borgo dei Borghi by RAI in April 2023.
Carnevale di Ronciglione
Three-day carnival granted by Pope Paul III Farnese in the sixteenth century, with the riderless Corse a Vuoto horse races.

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Living here

Population 8,447
Commuter belti
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Train station in the comune
Nearest airport Rome, 1 h 34 min drive
Regional capital Roma, 1 h 4 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 441 m
Population: 8,447
Surface area: 52.53 km²

On the map

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These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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