Lake Nemi and the Sacred Grove

The lake itself is the reason the town exists. A small volcanic basin — active as recently as 30,000 years ago — it lies encircled by dense woods and fringed with reeds and strawberry greenhouses, giving it an almost enchanted quality. From the medieval belvedere above, you can look straight down across the water; via a footpath or the Via del Tempio di Diana you can descend to the lakeshore and walk the entire six-kilometre perimeter at a leisurely pace.↗↗

For the ancient Latins, and later the Romans, this was sacred territory. The Sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis stood on the lake shore, and its ruins remain a haunting stop beneath the canopy. The Via Sacra — a processional road branching off the Appian Way and running from Genzano — once led worshippers to the temple; a reconstructed stretch with original stone paving can be seen at the Museum of the Roman Ships. The legendary figure of the Rex Nemorensis, the priest-king who had to slay his predecessor to claim the priesthood, gave Nemi a place in Western literary imagination that still lingers.↗↗↗

The Museum of the Roman Ships

No other place in Italy has a museum quite like this. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, engineers lowered the level of Lake Nemi by roughly ten metres using the ancient emissary tunnel, and out of the mud rose two colossal Roman hulls — floating pleasure palaces commissioned by Emperor Caligula, each approximately 70 metres long and fitted with marble, bronze decorations, heated baths and mosaic floors. They served as lavish venues for ceremonies honouring Diana and the Egyptian goddess Isis.↗↗

Tragically, both ships and their museum pavilion were burned in 1944, almost certainly by retreating German troops. The carefully designed 1940 exhibition hall — a rare Italian case of a building conceived from scratch to house its contents rather than the other way around — was reopened in 1953 and reorganised in 2001. Today it displays detailed scale models of the vessels, onboard equipment recovered from the lakebed, naval carpentry fragments, decorative bronze and terracotta pieces, and votive items from the Sanctuary. A second section covers the broader territory, with finds from the protohistoric and Bronze Age through Roman Republican and Imperial periods.↗↗

The Medieval Town

Climbing from the lake to the town, the medieval character reveals itself in a tight weave of stone lanes, small piazzas and the tower that remains from the original 10th-century fortification of the Counts of Tusculum. Around that tower grew Castello Ruspoli (now Palazzo Ruspoli), the oldest castle in the area, whose successive owners — the Frangipane, Ruspoli and others — shaped the village you see today.↗↗

Directly below the palace, the Terrazza degli Innamorati (Lovers' Terrace, inaugurated on Valentine's Day 2015) juts out over the steep spur and offers the town's most romantic vantage point over the lake. Its name invokes mythological love stories of the valley — Diana and Virbius, and Numa Pompilius and the nymph Egeria. Nearby, the small Romitorio di San Michele is tucked into the rock face, a quiet testimony to early Christian hermit life.↗↗

Two churches anchor the spiritual life of the town: Santa Maria del Pozzo, built in the early 1600s by the Frangipane lords, and the Chiesa del Crocifisso, commissioned in the 1640s. In Piazza Roma, the Fontana della Dea Diana by sculptor Luciano Mastrolorenzi (opened in 2000) pays homage to the goddess whose name gave the town its identity.

Strawberries, Flavours and Festivals

Nemi's most famous export is its wild strawberry — fragola di Nemi — a small, intensely aromatic fruit that grows abundantly in the woods thanks to the ideal volcanic soil and mild microclimate. Legend traces the berry back to the myth of Venus weeping red tears over the body of Adonis, which fell to earth and became little red hearts. They appear in desserts, tarts and the locally produced fragolino liqueur, a sweet red drink whose preparation involves a patient process of infusion and ageing.↗

The whole town celebrates these berries every June during the Sagra delle Fragole (Strawberry Festival), held on the first weekend of the month alongside a flower market that fills the lanes with colour and fragrance. September brings "Borgo di Vino," a roaming wine-festival celebrating local and national enogastronomy. In the kitchen, Nemi's traditional menu leans toward the hills: fettuccine with porcini mushrooms or a wild-game ragù, lamb offal with broad beans, and dishes that have sustained villagers for generations.↗

Artisan traditions persist alongside food culture; Nemi is known for its bobbin lace, still taught and produced in small workshops.↗

For Walkers and Nature Lovers

The lake lies inside the Parco Regionale dei Castelli Romani, created in 1984 to protect the natural and cultural landscape of the volcanic area. Networked footpaths circle the lake, connect Nemi to neighbouring Genzano, and climb through chestnut and oak woods onto the outer crater rim — ideal conditions for gentle trekking or a morning's mountain biking. The ancient emissary tunnel (emissario), a long artificial channel cut into rock to drain the lake, is itself a fascinating subterranean walk.↗↗

Practical Information

The Museum of the Roman Ships is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:00 to 19:00 (last entry at 18:00), closed on Mondays, January 1, and December 25. No reservation is required for individual visitors; groups may book in advance. The museum address is Via Diana, 13–15.↗

A Tourist Information Point operates at Piazza Roma. Nemi sits about 30 km southeast of Rome's centre; by car, take the Appian Way (SS7) toward Genzano and follow signs to Nemi. By public transport, regional trains reach Velletri or Genzano di Roma from Rome's Termini or Porta San Paolo stations, from which a short bus or taxi ride brings you to the village.↗↗