Today was my planned journey to Palestrina, a small town 50km east of Rome, and birthplace of the important composer Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina, normally known simply as ‘Palestrina’, in 1525.
First a trip on Metro A to the end of the line at Anagnina; 25 minutes for the 15 stops. Then a 55 minute bus journey from the Anagnina bus station to Palestrina, €5 for the return ticket. At least half the journey is through tedious Rome suburbs, with hold ups, lunatic drivers and a terrible road surface. There were fewer hold ups later. I note that they are building a new Metro line – Linea C – right to the edge of the city. Officially the bus stops only once in Palestrina, so I was keeping my eyes on the road and the limited signs, but in fact it seems to stop in random other places as well as the official stop, which isn't actually marked.
Palestrina is built on a hill, a steep one, and set in attractive countryside. I had a rough map, from Google, but it didn't mark much of interest, though it was useful for the layout of the roads and a few names. I came first to the Duomo, with its rather colourful interior, where Giovanni Perluigi was appointed organist in 1544 before going on to greater things in Rome.
I knew roughly where his house is – off Corso Perluigi, naturally enough – but couldn't locate it, so carried on up the many steep steps to Palazzo Barberini, towards the top of the hill. In fact I went on further up, to get some better views over the countryside. The Palazzo was built in the 11th century and modified in 1640, and now contains an archeological museum – Palestrina is built on an Etruscan settlement.
I didn't go into the museum, but the helpful lady in the small tourist office in the building gave me a map and explained where to find Perluigi's house. Sadly it was closed today, being a Monday. I'd thought that might be the case, and had originally planned to make this trip on Sunday but changed my mind for some reason. Before leaving home I hadn't been able to find out anything about visiting the house, or even if it's possible, as the website of the Fondazione Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina, who have owned the building since 1995, doesn't say.
The house is surprisingly large, three storeys, and dates back to the 14th century. It's main function now seems to be to house a library and to hold exhibitions. I was sorry to miss the inside, but in fact I don't think it's arranged at all as Perluigi would have known it (and no-one knows how it was anyway).
Then to find a place where I thought the bus back to Rome might stop, which it did, and I was back in the city soon after 2:00pm. I must admit to nodding off on the bus – maybe I relaxed a bit on my day out.