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Undamaged by war and
unravaged by modernity,
Civita feels st rangely enduring
fi ne original frescoes) and later, he secured the adjacent building too. Th is year, together
with his wife Christiana, he opened a luxury bed and breakfast hotel, La Corte della
Maestà, in the latter building. ‘Civita is wonderful but terribly challenging to live in,’
says Crepet, who has written almost all of his 20 books here. ‘With no disturbance and
no noise, it is the best place to write; but the wind, the nature and the loneliness make
it hard. You can’t be neutral about Civita.’
Another resident who savours the peace is Giuseppe Tornatore, the Italian fi lm
director and screenwriter best known for Academy Award-winning Cinema Paradiso.
Tornatore was encouraging of Crepet’s idea to open a stylish B&B, even suggesting
that he name the fi ve elegantly appointed rooms after women. ‘Th e Writer’, in honour
of Virginia Woolf, features a study with a reproduction of the fl owered wallpaper from
Woolf ’s London home, while the spectacular, airy master suite, ‘the Abbess’, has a
19th-century four-poster bed that was sourced from a convent. Bolstered by whimsical
furnishings, an enchanting garden and carefully selected antiques and art, La Corte is a
supremely sophisticated haven of tranquillity. Actor Geoff rey Rush, star of Tornatore’s
latest fi lm Th e Best Off er, was La Corte’s fi rst guest last Easter.
Th ough it sounds like madness to invest in a village that, as the former Mayor
admitted in 1997, is crumbling like ‘ricotta cheese’, measures have been taken to
stabilise it. Seven cavity wells in reinforced concrete (25m deep) now secure the areas
Eighty-Four
Far left: lacking
gaping crowds and gaudy
souvenir stands, Civita is
an oasis of peace.
Left: La Corte della
Maestà’s fi ve rooms are
elegantly decorated.
Below: American
Tony Costa Haywood
has worked on Civita’s
restoration since the 1960s
of tuff that are most unstable, and next year sections of the
base of the mountain will also be reinforced. Th e permanent
residents have conscience and clout: Tony Costa Heywood,
an American architect, and his wife Astra Zarina, a professor
emeritus of architecture, began working on Civita’s restoration
in the 1960s and founded a fellowship with the Northwest
Institute to off er accommodation for design professionals to
visit and monitor Civita. It’s a great comfort to know that this
magical place is in such good hands. ‘Don’t worry,’ says Crepet
reassuringly, ‘it’s not a dying village any more.’
La Corte della Maestà, Vicolo della Maestà, Civita di
Bagnoregio, +39 0761 792548, www.cortedellamaesta.com.
Suites from €300 per night