Anagni

Four popes came from Anagni and the town was effectively a papal seat in the thirteenth century. The crypt of San Magno under the cathedral is covered floor to vault with mid-thirteenth-century frescoes across five hundred and forty square metres, three painters working on scenes of creation, medicine, the human body and the apocalypse; the colours survived because the crypt was closed and dry. In 1303 agents of Philip IV of France seized Boniface VIII in the papal palace here in the episode known as the outrage of Anagni; he was released after a few days but died within weeks, and the papacy soon moved to Avignon.

History

Palaeolithic finds show people here more than 700,000 years ago, among them bone and flint objects and human teeth. The first people known by name in the area were the Hernici, who came down from the Aniene valley and are said to descend from the Marsi or the Sabines (Wikipedia, Anagni).

The main sights

• The crypt of San Magno - 540 square metres of thirteenth-century fresco.
• The papal palace - the hall of the 1303 seizure of Boniface VIII.
• The cathedral - a Romanesque church with a Cosmatesque floor.
• The medieval streets - a compact hill town largely intact.

When to go

April to October; the crypt closes for a long midday break and visits are limited to protect the frescoes. Winter is cold and damp on the hill.

What to expect

Crypt visits are time-limited with no photography and can be closed for conservation. The town is small, seen in two hours. The lower modern town is unremarkable.

Nearby

Subiaco lies north; Montecassino is southeast.

Key facts