Atina, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy

Three important palazzi dating back many centuries - Palazzo Fasoli, Palazzo Cantelmo and Palazzo Mancini - form a ring around the cobbled central Piazza Saturno in the very heart of the historic medieval hilltop town of Atina.

In the 1700s, the Fasoli family restored and extended their palazzo, enriching it with frescos, friezes and other decorations in a very refined Baroque style.

This grand building is now divided between two brothers. The 385 sq.mt. 6 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment that is now for sale comprises the 'piano nobile' and an apartment in the attic.

The imposing double front doors of the palazzo open into an entrance hall with ancient stone-vaulted ceilings. A flight of stone steps leads up to the 'piano nobile'.

On this floor a line of grand rooms run along the front of the building, overlooking the piazza and the ducal Palazzo Cantelmo (dating from the 1300s). These rooms all have original, beautifully painted, coffered wood ceilings, as well as parquet floors. Each ceiling is designed in different colours and patterns, giving a unique feel and identity to each room. Currently laid out as a formal entrance hall, a study, a sitting room and a dining room, both the sitting room and the dining room have attractive wrought-iron juliet balconies. Additionally the dining room features a splendid antique marble fireplace.

A separate, less formal but very functional, family entrance hall has doors directly into the dining room, the kitchen, the master bedroom suite and the guest rooms, as well as stairs to the attic level. The kitchen enjoys sweeping views across the valley.

The master bedroom also has parquet floors and a fine view over the piazza to the mountains beyond. There is a modern bathroom. A guest area has three bedrooms and another bathroom, as well as a private terrace.

The upper level has not been fully restored, but features another four rooms, two overlooking the piazza and two with vistas over the valley, with antique floor tiles and a balcony running their entire length on the the valley side. This area could be used to create further separate accommodation, or a hobby room and relaxation area, or a gym, etc. There is also a bathroom/laundry room on this level.

In addition to the terrace and the juliet balconies on the piano nobile and the balcony on the upper level, all of which are private to the owner of this apartment, there are two further outside areas, which are communal between the two apartments that together form the Palazzo. These outside areas consist of a roof terrace and an internal courtyard. Neither are currently much used, and the seller believes his brother would agree to a realignment of the property whereby each apartment takes one of these two spaces and gives up its right to the other; alternatively both the roof terrace and the internal courtyard could continue to be communal space, as at present.

The apartment has its own dedicated stone-vaulted cellars on the ground floor level.

There could be the possibility of renting an internal garage adjacent to the main front doors of the palazzo - one room of the cellars, fronting onto the piazza, is now owned by the Comune, who use it for occasional displays and exhibits. The Comune have in the past been prepared to rent this room to either of the owners of the palazzo for use as a garage.

Palazzo Fasoli has excellent road access and there is a nearby entrance to the Sora/Cassino superstrada. Rome, Naples and their respective airports can be reached in little over 90 minutes.

The historic centre of Atina has many shops, restaurants, bars, cafés and services, all accessible from the Palazzo within a couple of minutes walk.

Energy classification: G


ATINA AND THE CIOCIARIA

Atina is one of the major medieval hilltop towns in the area of Italy called the Ciociaria, the name given to the fertile land that lies south of Rome but north of Naples, situated inland in the hills in the heart of Italy. It is one of the major wine-producing areas of Lazio and the hillsides ringing the historic centre of Atina iare covered with vineyards.

The Ciociaria region is within easy reach of both Rome and Naples and their respective airports. A day's shopping in Rome is a common pastime, while an even shorter drive brings you to the charming beaches south of Rome. Alternatively, drive east, and the mountains of the Abruzzo National Park await with horse trekking in the magnificent beech forests, and sparkling mountain lakes and rivers where you can swim in the heat of the summer. And at the other extreme of temperature, although Artina itself is temperate, less than an hour's drive brings you to the winter ski slopes.

Often overlooked, both by tourists and by those foreigners in search of an Italian home, in favour of the more publicized regions of Tuscany and Umbria, the Ciociaria remains largely an unspoilt gem with beautiful scenery and medieval hilltop towns. A home or second home in the Ciociaria, in the hilltop towns of Atina, Arpino, Veroli, Alatri or in the rolling countryside that surrounds them, will afford you a setting where over two thousand years of history combine with an idyllic rural Italian lifestyle, where you can still discover the 'real' Italy and take time out from the busy crowds of the larger tourist cities, while being less than ninety minutes journey from central Rome or either of Rome's two airports.

VIA ROMANA Srls and the CINELLI IMMOBILIARE AGENCY

Via Romana Srls is an Italian-incorporated company owned by a British/Australian Chartered Accountant and her photographer daughter, and offers a package of services to facilitate all aspects of the purchase and restoration of Italian property by overseas clients. The Via Romana team works in collaboration with various fully-licensed Italian real estate agencies including the Cinelli Immobiliare Agency. The Cinelli Immobiliare Agency aims at identifying unique buildings with outstanding locations in the beautiful Ciociaria region, including apartments, historic houses, villas, palazzos and farmhouses. Some of these properties are already renovated while others are to be restored. The Cinelli Immobiliare Agency also provides reliable and full service renovations focussed on the appropriate use of original materials, such as stone, wood and wrought iron, drawing on over 40 years' experience in the restoration sector of their partner company Cinelli Claudio Restorations and their technical office, headed by Ing. Valentina Cinelli.