Veroli, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy

Palazzo Franchi de' Cavalieri is a magnificent 17th century palazzo, situated next to the Basilica di Santo Erasmo in the historic centre of Veroli, a medieval hill top town an hour's drive from Rome. Throughout the main floor the walls and ceilings of the principal rooms are decorated with frescos of exceptional beauty dating from the 1700s and 1800s, well-restored and in generally good condition.

The largest and most decorated salon measuring over 90 sq.mt. and has a vaulted ceiling in excess of 7 metres in height. Double French doors lead from this salon onto a 150 sq.mt.terrace, seemingly suspended in space above the town and the Sacca valley, with a panoramic vista across the valley to the mountains beyond.

Vaulted stone passageways (once actual town streets, now walled off and forming part of the private grounds of the building) lead below the palazzo into an inner stone-walled garden and also into cellars, similarly with high vaulted ceilings, whose age predates even that of the palazzo. A further large walled courtyard garden, with stunning views, opens to the right of the building, from beside the dining room and kitchen, directly opposite the basilica of St Erasmus.


Principal Floor ("piano nobile")

Throughout the main floor the walls and ceilings of the principal rooms are decorated with frescos of exceptional beauty, well-restored and in generally good condition. The largest and most magnificently decorated salon measuring over 90 sq.mt. has a vaulted ceiling in excess of 7 metres in height. The frescoes are of the late neoclassical style and show Neapolitan influences. They reflect the desire of wealthy nobility in the late 1700s and early 1800s to create palaces in the Roman countryside that echo back to similar palaces in Rome at the height of the Roman Empire. Many of the figures are therefore pre-Christian and depict mythological beings; there are scenes recalling the deeds of Roman gods and goddesses, winged victories bear garlands and some ornamentation creates statues and busts.

Double glass doors lead from this salon on to a 150 sq.mt.terrace, seemingly suspended in space above the town and the Sacca valley, with a panoramic vista across the valley to the mountains beyond. This terrace provides an incredible venue for entertaining: a breath-taking view during the day and a quite magical atmosphere at sunset and in the evening, as all the house and street lamps in the medieval buildings and winding streets of Veroli are lit.

There are an additional 10 rooms on this floor, together with a number of interconnecting corridors and ante-chambers. Almost all the rooms have either very fine frescoes on the ceilings or very beautiful ornate wood coffered ceilings. Some of these ceilings date from the late 1700s. The floors are generally antique floor tiles and the window frames are similarly antique. Two great central panels in these ceilings depict Biblical stories while other groupings are reminiscent of 'victory' monuments. The style and composition of the Biblical scenes reflects the influence of Raphael, in particular in the rendition of the angel.

The interior of this floor is the subject of a heritage listing decree, issued by the Italian Government Ministerio dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali in Rome, attesting the historic and artistic importance of all the antiquities on this floor and thus to the authenticity and importance of the frescoes.

This floor has been unused for some time, and needs some restoration work (fixing windows and shutters, rewiring, restoring some miscellaneous damage (eg missing internal doors, fireplace), removing some unauthorised work carried out years ago in a couple of the smallest rooms etc


Other main floors

All of these areas have already been lovingly restored.

Opening from the main entrance hall of the building, a further entrance hall with elegant gilded ceiling vaults leads towards a huge window. To the right, there is a kitchen and dining room, both rooms with wood ceilings, and a serving hatch connecting the kitchen to the dining room. Windows from both rooms look out over the private courtyard garden, which is also directly accessed by a door next to the dining room

The large courtyard garden has high walls for privacy on the town side, and a view across the valley on the other. There are mature trees, flower beds and a fountain. At the far end there is a large niche with a statue. A wide gate opens onto the road opposite the basilica, so part of the courtyard can be used for parking (which still leaves a great deal of space for the garden, alfresco dining etc.)

To the left of the main entrance, there is a large living room, also with coffered wood ceiling, and a bathroom, followed by two fine salons with striking vaulting over the doors and windows. The floor is in these two rooms is herringbone parquet. There is a particularly exceptional view from the second salon, which has a small nook, suitable perhaps for a desk, extending out with windows on all three sides.

Internal stairs lead down the lower level, currently laid out with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, one with a hydromassage tub and two-tone inlay flooring with ornamental motifs.

Back on the ground floor, two large halls with original terracotta flooring and stone arches lead to a further three bedrooms, a bathroom and another living room.

Stairs lead down to a small apartment with large bed/sitting room and eat-in kitchen, with a double fireplace in the wall between the two, a bathroom, and a door onto a patio. This area is ideal as a 'granny flat' or caretaker's apartment. Past the patio there is a door into a side street, allowing access to and from this area without going through the main building.


Gardens

As well as the stunning terrace and the huge courtyard garden, also with sweeping views, the same ancient passageways that lead to the cellars also arrive at is a charming garden, bounded for the most part by old stone walls. Mature fruit trees complement flowering bushes. Further garden areas run around the valley side of the property, including an area with some old rose bushes, finally arriving at the patio area outside the caretaker's apartment. There is also another small courtyard opening from one of the cantinas.


Cellars ("cantine")

Vaulted stone passageways lead below the palazzo into an inner stone-walled garden and also into cellars, similarly with high vaulted ceilings, whose age predates even that of the palazzo. These passageways have been beautifully restored with the old stonework having been cleaned and sealed. One of the many cellar rooms still has an antique stone olive mill.


Top Floor ("sottotetto")

The top floor of the palazzo lies immediately under the roof. Here too are centuries-old chestnut wood beams, although this area is now unused. Much of the roof requires restoration.


Palazzo Franchi de' Cavalieri - history

Palazzo Franchi de' Cavalieri is a magnificent building situated next to the Santo Erasmo Basilica in the historic centre of Veroli, a medieval hill top town an hour's drive southeast from Rome. Early references to the Palazzo date back to the mid 1600s, when, following the breakdown of her marriage to the painter, Carlo Maratta, Francesca Trulli came to live there with her father, Bernadino Trulli. Francesca's name appears in 1663, 1671, 1672 and 1696 as godmother to various babies in the baptismal records of the Santo Erasmo Basilica. The Trulli family name is carved in stone in the archway over one of the inner doors of the palazzo - Anonius B. Trullus, the Latin rendition of Antonio Bernardo Trulli, who lived from 1642 to 1702. Later the palazzo passed into the ownership of the Franchi de' Cavalieri family from whence it derived its present name.


Veroli - an overview

Veroli predates the Roman Empire, being founded as an Ernici town with city walls built in Cyclopan style. In the historical centre, it is possible to see the ancient Roman walls supporting the large terrace on which the Cathedral of St. Andrea now stands. The Basilica dedicated to St. Maria Salome, Veroli's patron saint, is famous for its Holy Stairwell similar to the ones in Jerusalem and in the Church of St Giovanniin Laterano in Rome.

Veroli is less than an hour's drive to Rome's main international airport; a similar driving time reaches Rome's main railway station and the heart of Rome itself.

Veroli is at the heart of the historical area known as the Ciociaria, a geographical bridge between Rome and Naples, fertile with rolling hills and mountains, settled by the Romans, its civilization growing through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and reaching great prosperity in the 1800s. The beautifully-restored historical centre of Veroli within its city walls is an architectural gem and a worthy setting for Palazzo Franchi.



VIA ROMANA Srls and CASE & CASALI REAL ESTATE 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 Case & Casali Real Estate Agency represented by Sig. Ciro Tomei. Sig. Tomei has been enrolled in the register of real estate agents at the Chamber of Commerce in Frosinone, Lazio since 2007 and has much experience in the international marketing of Italian real estate.