Around Lake Nemi even November allows you to enjoy all the flavor of summer. The sun is soft but warm, the brown of the chestnuts and the purple of the must slowly make their way through the still luxuriant green of the Mediterranean vegetation.
Ph. Roberta Venditti
The coots, with their white snouts, silently sail on the water, with a haughty and snobbish attitude. Only a slight noise of a lawn mower coming from the town of Genzano suggests that we are in autumn and that life in the villages goes by at full speed. Some solitary explorers dressed in short sleeves take advantage of the small lakeside beaches to enjoy this remnant of summer.
Walking around Lake Nemi means experiencing different suggestions every time. From the volcanic soil of this small body of water 326 meters above sea level, a few kilometers from Rome, the Mediterranean vegetation is born, bordering the perimeter of the lake with strawberry trees in full bloom and shrubs. It is reflected in the water with a play of shapes and liquid landscapes.
Ph. Roberta Venditti
The beech and chestnut woods, which grow higher and further inland, create a mountain atmosphere, with paths covered with yellowed and wet leaves and shaded corners full of humidity. The porcupine or the barn owl hides in the ravines of the rock or in the dens dug in the land. Sometimes a sudden sound interrupts the muffled silence of the walk, but it is not always easy to understand where the sound comes from and what it is.
And then the vineyards from which the celebrated wine of the Castelli Romani is born, the undisputed protagonist of popular songs and of that slightly shining joy with its roots in ancient Rome, which today continues to live around the festive tables from Genzano to Frascati.
Ph. Roberta Venditti
“So mejo della sciampagna li vini de ‘ste vigne ce fanno la cuccagna dar tempo de Noè. Li prati a tutto spiano so’ frutte, vigne e grano s'annamo a mette lì Nannì, Nannì”
“The wines of these vineyards are better than champagne, they have given us abundance since the time of Noah. The meadows are full of fruit, vines and wheat. Let's go there, Nannì, Nannì”From the song “Nanni - 'Na gita a li Castelli”
Lake Nemi is an ideal place for the Sunday trips of the Romans. On the other hand, the Romans already in ancient times chose it as a holiday and fun place. The word "Nemi" itself derives from the Latin Nemus Dianae: sacred wood for Diana, goddess protector of the woods and wild animals, guardian of springs and streams, who has her sanctuary right here in Nemi.
Ph. Roberta Venditti
If we stop for a few minutes on one of the lakeside beaches and look at the water, maybe we can still see the silhouettes of the two imposing ships that emperor Caligula built in homage to Diana and the Egyptian goddess Isis and that he used as floating palaces in which to relax and enjoy the water and air.
But the legend tells that following his death the Senate of Rome, of which Caligula was an indomitable enemy, had the two boats destroyed to delete the memory of the emperor and that the remains of those two ships were sunk in the lake, thirty meters deep.