With its origins as a 12^th century medieval village (and a record of settlement far back into antiquity), Latera is embracing contemporary art to help define its identity for the 21^st century. For a small community, it is remarkable how much creativity is blossoming in the town.

Credit for the town’s commitment to public art goes to the Mayor and the Commune of Latera which has funded the Art Farm Project. The project commissions artists to create site-specific work, fashioning Latera into an open-air art experience. In addition, local textile artisans have softened stone church and civic structures with whimsical additions. The La Casa Etruria Artists Residency adds momentum by bringing artists and writers to the village for two- to four-week periods.

Visiting a medieval hill town, you might expect historic churches and fountains but in Latera you also come upon contemporary murals, sculptures, and crochet flowers as delightful surprises.  

Francesco Vullo, “Threshold,” 5,000 blue sodalite stones, evoking a sense of flowing water.

Top: Nicola Ghilardelli, “Ossesso,” aluminum circle with a serpent biting its tale. Elisa Capdevila, “The Flowers,” mural of a young girl from Latera with the iconic chestnut leaves of the surrounding forest. Bottom left: view of The Flowers from the town cafe. Center right: Mirko Loste’s large-scale mural “The Forgotten Queen.” Bottom right: Polymetis, a Canadian design studio, just installed a sundial made from beautiful Carrara marble. 

Check out the creative crochet installations in Latera!

Together these artistic endeavors are bringing new life to this hill town that has struggled, as have other Italian towns, to retain its viability and appeal to the next generation. Unfortunately, Latera no longer has a school so families with children drive to the next town. But electric car charging stations, summer concerts and movies, and a commitment to a civic future of public art are giving residents hope that Latera can find a creative way forward to appeal to the next generation and to international visitors.

I will tell you right now—you should visit Latera!

There are a few Airbnb accommodations in town or in nearby towns, and Latera is a hub from which you can swim in Lake Bolsena, visit the stunning hill towns of Pitigliano and Orvieto, soak in the hot springs of Saturnia, enjoy wines and a lake view at the Villa Cavaciana winery, or hike bucolic trails throughout the area. The city of Viterbo, the sea coast, and the official Via Francigena route are all less than an hour away. In town, the Museo della terra chronicles the incredible hard work of farming and family life from the previous century.

All major Italian cities are over-crowded with tourists. Visiting the rural province of Lazio, we stepped back in time, but also glimpsed a possible future through the eyes of contemporary artists. Perhaps art can offer a way forward so that Latera can flourish in the century ahead.

Tiles on a house on Via della Mura.