70 kilometers from Rome, perched on the slopes of the Simbruini Mountains, at an altitude of 1,000 meters, Cervara di Roma is known as the ‘artists’ village,’ as its picturesque beauty has attracted for centuries artists from all over Europe. The painter and inventor Samuel Morse described it this way: “There is something strangely grandiose about a place like this. It is ruled, for the most part, by perfect silence.” The French artist Ernest Hébert lived in Cervara in the 19th century and painted many portraits of the village’s women.
With just 400 residents (most left after World War II), Cervara has the highest historical center in the province of Rome and the second in Lazio. It is the gateway to the Monti Simbruini Regional Natural Park, the largest protected natural area of the region with peaks reaching above 2100 meters.
