Guardea

Guardea rests on a hillside in Umbria where the region brushes up to northern Lazio. Here in the rolling countryside are pretty small towns, valleys and historic castles perched on summits. Guardea is a like postcard: a stone hamlet overlooking the surrounding territory with the Tiber River valley below. The name comes from its position, as a guard post for the castle that was built here as a defensive structure. People fled inside the walled complex in times of peril. The stolid stone Castello del Poggio still stands above the town as a picturesque testimony to the town's history.

While it was the Middle Ages that brought the current face you see on Guardea, ceramic shards, coins and mosaic fragments found here confirm a Roman presence two millennia ago. While its small, there are cafes and restaurants along with a handful of shops and a pharmacy. Guardea is in a good position in southern Umbria near Amelia, Todi and Orvieto, but where Umbria meets Lazio, with places like Lake Bolsena, Montefiascone, and Civita di Bagnoregio a short distance away.