History of Santa Cristina Castle
S. Cristina’s XVII Century Castle lies in a strategic position at the crossroads of Lazio, Umbria and Tuscany. It is a ten minute drive north of Lake Bolsena and only 3 km away from Grotte di Castro, a fascinating ancient village of Etruscan origin set deep in the Tuscan Hills.
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Just below the Castle, a typical XVIII Century farmhouse has been restored to offer comfortable and warm hospitality within it’s beautiful apartments. The fairytale Castle is most romantic with a castellated turret rising above an age old woodland.
It has a long association with the powerful Prelates, who played a key role in forming the Vatican State. This culminated in Pope Pius IX’s chief advisor, Cardinal Prospero Caterini, choosing the Castello in 1848 as his personal residence. His descendants still use this as a country home. It is a magical place to stay, with the opportunity of watersports, lazing on the beach at Lake Bolsena, horse riding, mountain biking or hiking in the Monte Rufeno National Park.
…WHERE THE POPE PIUS XII LOVED TO HAVE HIS PICNIC
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During the centuries, the history of the noble Caterini family is often linked with that of the Pacellis’, who were also a wealthy and important family from the village of Onano. The therapeutic environment of Santa Cristina was often suggested by doctors as a good place for recoveries. This is why Eugenio Pacelli during his summer vacations as a young priest often came to the area in order to spend his free time with the Pacelli and Caterini relatives. In the following photographs taken at Santa Cristina, you can see the lean profile of the future Pope Pius XII among his relatives during some relaxing excursions in the countryside.