Total time: 8 hours.

We leave Segni around 9:00 am, but earlier would be better, heading for Rocca Massima. We will drive on a lovely winding road through chestnut woods. Rocca Massima is a very little town right on top of the last hill before the Pontine Plain which extends all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and, on a clear day you can see as far as the Mount Circeo and the Pontine Archipelago. From Rocca Massima the winding road continues to Cori through olive groves that grow on the rocky mountain side offering a wonderful view on the right hand side. Cori is a another lovely hilltop town which will be unusually approached for above since we'll be driving to it from Rocca Massima, which is higher up, and so the first things you'll see of Cori will be its red tile roofs! We can stop and wander through the streets of Cori a little and then we'll head for Sermoneta. This is one of my favored places in the area and in all of Italy. Perched on top of a hill dominating the valley which extends all the way to the sea, it is dominated by the fortress built originally by the Annibaldi family in the 11th century.

You walk into the city though one of the gates in the medieval walls and walk its cobble stone paved streets to reach the fortress that in the 16th century was also inhabited by the famous Lucrezia Borgia. We will visit the castle with the help of the local guide who unfortunately doesn't speak English, but don't worry, I'll translate for you. After visiting the castle, we will leave Sermoneta for the nearby Valvisciolo Abbey. This abbey, which was founded in the 8th century, was taken over by the

Knights Templar in the 13th is a beautiful sample of medieval art which guards one of the mysterious palindromes which people have been engraving or painting on walls, but no one could ever translate, the so called "sator square" which in this unique case has a round shape! Leaving Valvisciolo we'll head for Bassiano which is a lovely little town known especially for its production of Prosciutto! Hopefully we'll have lunch there and try it. I'm saying "hopefully" because the restaurants in Bassiano are only open for lunch during the high season.

As an alternative we can have lunch in the next town, Maenza. We might also visit the factory where the make the famous Bassiano's Prosciutto. If you should happen to do this tour in the month of July, then you'll enjoy the prosciutto festival in Bassiano! Leaving Bassiano we'll reach Maenza via Roccagorga and we can stop there for a look around. From Maenza  we continue to Carpineto Romano on a very pleasant winding road sided by beautiful green fields and mountains. Carpineto Romano is another nice little town on the Lepini Mountains famous for being the birthplace of Pope Leo XIII famous for the encyclical Rerum Novarum which is practically a letter that the Pope wrote to all the bishops to encourage  them to support the workers in

their struggle to obtain better working conditions and to keep them away from communism. We can stop and look around Carpineto before returning to Segni. Between Carpineto and Segni is the town of Montelanico, another lovely little place where you might want to stop and look around, but what I suggest is to go back there to dine at the  "Vecchio Frantoio", one of my favored restaurants in the area housed in and old oil mill (frantoio in Italian) run by young but dedicated people who serve fantastic local specialties and wines for a very moderate price. Dinner normally costs 20.00 Euros per person including wines.