Buying property in Lazio

Talk about buying real estate in Lazio, and attention immediately turns to Rome. Of course it does — this is one of the world’s great cities, impossibly romantic and with a history that encompasses Classical antiquity, Renaissance glory and the dolce vita image of post-War Italy, and many visitors have fallen in love, and bought property in Rome. But though the romance of the Eternal City has been a magnet for writers, artists and musicians for millennia — and exerts a particular hold on the imagination of Anglo-Saxon visitors, with the Romantic poets finding a spiritual home in Rome — it is not all of Lazio. Incidentally, should you be making a visit, and are looking for Rome hotels, we're happy to steer you towards ahotelinitaly.com, offering both a wide range and instant online booking.

This region is the geographical bridge between north and south after all, bordering Tuscany to the north and Campania to the south, with a huge stretch of coastline. Buy real estate in the north of Lazio and you are in the Lazio Maremma, an extension of the Tuscan coastal region. This is countryside of vineyards and olive groves, grazing cattle and lush grasses. Buy real estate in the south of Lazio and you are in a land that resembles neighbouring Campania, whose sun-soaked capital is Naples. Here the countryside is dotted with cactuses and bleached rock escarpments.

Real estate in Lazio — about the region

Rome needs little introduction. Anyone buying a property there will be well aware of the Pantheon, the Forum, the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums. The Eternal City, founded in myth by brothers Romulus and Remus, became the centre of the greatest imperial power of the Ancient world. After centuries of invasion, decadence and decay, Rome rose again as Caput Mundi, the capital of the world, with its status as the home of the Church and the Pontiff.

All roads lead to Rome, goes the old saying and it’s true. Rome lay at the hub of the trade routes of old and today the roads in Italy radiate from the modern capital. You certainly can buy property in the heart of Rome, but access to the Spanish Steps, St Peter’s and the Via del Corso will cost … anywhere from €2500 to €4500 per square metre. In outlying districts of Rome, real estate is unlikely to drop much below €1500 per square metre.

Real estate in the Lazio countryside

All the more reason to look further afield for property in Lazio. Head north and you find the terrain becomes more verdant and wooded, steadily merging into countryside much more reminiscent of neighbouring Umbria and Tuscany, with their rolling hills of vineyards and olive groves. Areas to try include around Lake Bolsena and the towns of Montefiascone or Tuscania.

Or look at property in the city of Viterbo. The centre of northern Lazio, Viterbo is a predominantly medieval town which, during the 13th century, rivalled Rome. The papacy relocated here to escape turmoil in the Eternal City. Today Viterbo, with good bus and rail links to Rome, makes a good base for access to the good countryside around, with a host of historic buildings such as the Palazzo Papale, the church of Sant’Angelo and the arcaded Palazzo dei Priori.

Tuscania, Viterbo and Tarquinia real estate

Tuscania, meanwhile, is an interesting prospect for anyone looking for property in Lazio. Approaching the town you are met with the impressive site of Tuscania’s towers looming from the plain that links Viterbo and Tarquinia. The town was a favourite location for film director Franco Zefferelli, who filmed Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew here. Tuscania is a curious construct though. Flattened by an earthquake in 1971, it has been lovingly created as a tidy, and brand new, medieval town … something of an improvement on the rather rundown Tuscania that preceded it actually. Look for apartments for sale in Tuscania or farmhouses for sales in the Italian countryside outside the town.

Up near the border with Umbria, you can find real estate in Rieti, the capital of Lazio’s largest province and lying on the old Roman Salt Road (via Salaria), one of the many trade routes and roads that ‘lead to Rome’. Rieti has steadily depopulated since the 1950s, leaving the region with the second lowest population density in Italy (after Valle d’Aosta). It has left the hills and countryside around unscarred by industry or new housing and Rieti, if rather frozen in time, does offer possibilities for those looking for property bargains in Italy. The countryside round Rieti also offers marvellous cuisine. This is truffle country and the surrounding Sabine Hills produce marvellous goat’s cheese.

Property for sale in Lazio — where and how much

To give you some idea of the diversity of real estate for sale in Lazio, consider these. For €75,000 you could buy a 400-year-old farmhouse in a hamlet near the town of Amatrice (the nearest big town is Ascoli Piceno in Marche, 45 minutes away) nestling in the Apennine Mountains in the north-east of the region. Habitable, though very much a development property, this large stone-built house sits within 2000m² of its own land, with the hills about great for walking and skiing.

Or how about this restoration project near the beautiful village of Cottanello, just 50km north of Rome. €135,000 buys land with four houses (all needing complete restoration) isolated atop a hill 800m above sea level. Buy this Lazio real estate overlooking fields and woods, and in the heart of good olive country, and you could create a home for yourself and income from holiday lets.

Buy real estate in Lazio — airports andcommunications

Rome is of course the main hub of communications, with two airports, Ciampino and Fiumcino, ensuring that those who buy property in Lazio are well served for flights. The city is at the nexus of the cross country A24 highway and the north-south A1, which is also within easy reach of Viterbo, Bolsena and the towns and villages of northern Lazio as it heads into Umbria. There is also good access to the coast (and Lazio has an enormous stretch of good Mediterranean beaches) with the coastal A12 highway running from Rome up toward Tarquinia.

Buy property in Lazio — the cuisine

Despite its grand history, Rome is essentially a rather brash working class town in many ways. And the cuisine of Lazio and Rome itself is essentially poor people’s food — not unusual in crowded cities where fresh produce (and meat) was at a premium, so the people tended to dine off the less select cuts. If you buy a home in Lazio you’re going to want to taste the food the local people eat, but there may be a slight cultural adjustment here, as you’re offered the parts of the animal you wouldn’t normally look at. Pickled lamb’s tongue (lingua vitella in salsa piccante), trippa alla Romana (slices of cow’s stomach in tomato sauce) and cervello fritto (minced and fried cow’s brains) are all favourites.

Spaghetti is the prime pasta on display, and Roman sauces tend to be tasty rather than subtle — aglio e olio (garlic and oil) and cacio e pepe (pecorino and coarse ground black pepper) are favourites. Nobody buys a home in Lazio for the wines, but there are reasonable whites such as Frascati and from Montefiascone.