Renowned for its resemblance to a magical Hobbit village and surrounded by stunning natural landscapes, this hidden gem boasts charming rocky and stone houses, winding streets, an ancient church, cascading waterfalls, and towering mountains. Every corner exudes a whimsical atmosphere, enchanting visitors with its fairy-tale-like beauty.
March 2023: Èze Village, lying between Nice and Monaco, is basically two villages on three levels. The lowest is Èze-sur-Mer, through which the Nice–Monaco railway line runs. 427 m higher is Èze (Èze-Village), which I describe here. This medieval village, built on the very top of a hill, is today one of the places on the French Riviera most-visited by tourists. No wonder, because the views from above are so magnificent that they are almost unreal. The village is like a castle, with thick stone walls richly covered with colorful flowers.
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Casperia is a fortified medieval village in the Sabine Hills, province of Rieti. That’s north Lazio and just a short hop to the regional border with Umbria.
Built on top of a rocky hill and surrounded by mountains and deep valleys, the village commands a wonderful view of the Appenines.
The former fiefdom of the Counts of Turenne, the medieval village of Collonges-la-Rouge, nestling some twenty kilometres to the south of Brive-la-Gaillarde, surrounded by peaceful, green countryside planted with chestnut and walnut trees, will enchant you with its picturesque charm and its famous red sandstone.
From the old grain and wine hall built in the 16th century to the magnificent houses with thackstone and slate roofs, through the Flat Gate (Porte Plate) and the fortified church, you’re sure to be won over by the beauty of this famous Corrèze town with its twenty-five towers. Lovers of beautiful stone buildings can enjoy a stroll along its pleasant streets lined with smart façades. A genuine journey through time, a walk around the village will not only show you the remarkable Church of St. Peter, with its splendid 12th-century tympanum carved out of white Turenne limestone and its imposing gabled Romanesque bell tower, but also some lavish 15th and 16th-century houses crowned with towers and turrets.
The hill town of Assisi in Umbria is one of Italy’s best preserved medieval villages. The ancient buildings are constructed from a local stone that has slightly pink color enhancing the visual beauty of this special place with a lovely network of pedestrian lanes to explore, some of them so steep they are staircases rather than streets. The main reason that most people visit the town is because it was the home of St. Francis, one of the Catholic Church’s most important saints, who is buried here under the great basilica that was constructed two years after his death in the early 13th century.
Gruyères is a medieval town in the Fribourg canton of Switzerland. It’s known for production of the cheese of the same name. The 13th-century Château de Gruyères is a hilltop fortress with a multimedia history show and ornate rooms. Inside the small St. Germain Castle, the H.R. Giger Museum shows artwork relating to the film “Alien.” The Tibet Museum displays Buddhist sculptures and ritual objects of the Himalayas.
The ‘Albergo Diffuso’ is a concept of hospitality that was launched in Italy as an attempt to revive small, historic villages at risk of abandonment and historic buildings at risk of crumbling.
A number of separate buildings make up an albergo diffuso, with a central unit corresponding to the reception within a 200-meter distance. They may feature rooms and apartments, with or without kitchen. There is also often a space for dining, and there may be other services and amenities as well, such as a pool.
Santo Stefano di Sessanio is a fortified medieval village built in the mountains of Abruzzo at over 1250 meters above sea level, within the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park.
The current urban configuration of the village was established in the middle of the Middle Ages when the phenomenon of fortification developed: high-altitude settlements, surrounded by a fortified wall perimeter that still remain today one of the most characteristic historical-topographical elements of the imaginary of the Italian landscape The integrity between territory and historical buildings has been residually preserved in some villages set in the Apennine mountains precisely because of their depopulation, in the more general context of impoverishment of the south, abandonment of the mountain and emigration of its people.
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