Ahead of me the green extends as far as the horizon. I have arrived at the Tenuta di Ferento.
I can see a lot of different crops: wheat, maize, sugar beet, and what will become a wonderful field of sunflowers in summer.

The view is mostly of an immense expanse of 14,000 trees covering almost half of this land, and which constitute its greatest resource: olive trees.
Country people are hard at work, it’s harvest time, and everybody is busy: eating olives and olives for oil production are being picked.
There are also some guests at Villa Rossi Danielli, who have come to see the harvest, and perhaps lend a hand, a chance to spend some time a little differently.

The owners, Luigi and Maria Renata, tell me that the estate has belonged to the family since 1700. They want to tell me its history, and start to explain, but little Ruggero is tired of this talk, and wants to show me something.

Walking around the estate, after visiting the Pian del Sale and Fornicchio, the surprise he has been wanting to give me arrives: the magnificent Teatro di Ferento, discovered in the early 20th century by Luigi’s great grandfather, who uncovered some of the structure. The theatre was completely revealed by King Gustav of Sweden in the 1960s and 70s.
Luigi tells me that at the Rocca Albornoz national museum, in Viterbo, there is the complete reconstruction of the theatre, with the very beautiful statues of the nine muses and photographs of the excavations.
The majesty of the Roman ruins, which are very well preserved, can be experienced in full during the summer theatre performances held outdoors. It is wonderful to sit down and watch a performance at a Roman theatre immersed in a timeless country setting!
Suddenly, as if awaking from a dream, I realise that nature and history have gone hand in hand in these places since time immemorial, and in a really unique way.

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