Not every story needs to explain a region or an important chapter of its history. Some begin with something much smaller: an inscription on a wall, an old building, a name above a doorway, a local tradition, a familiar dish or something noticed while passing through a village.

 

Southern Lazio is full of these stories. Some lead back centuries; others reveal the lives of remarkable people, forgotten industries, curious traditions or connections with a much wider world. Often there is far more behind something familiar or easily overlooked than first appears.

 

Local stories is a growing collection of these discoveries. They may not belong to the larger story told in the Sella & Saggia book, but each adds another piece to the pleasure of getting to know this part of Italy.