Corte della Maestà

in Civita di Bagnoregio, Lazio, Italy

It’s interesting to hear that everybody who has visited Corte della Maestà, even if only for one night, always states that they will be back. That’s been the greatest reward for me.

Cristiana, Manager
Corte della Maestà, Civita di Bagnoregio, Lazio, Italy

Corte della Maestà

  • Location: Town / Village
    Orvieto, one of Italy’s most dramatically situated hill towns: 20km (35 mins by car)
    Assisi/beautiful Basilica of St. Francis: 90km (1h 30 mins by car)
    Beautiful restaurants, local shops and weekly market: In walking distance
    Rent a boat on Lake Bolsena: 20km (30 mins by car)
  • Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO): 155km (1h 50 mins by car)
    Perugia Airport San Francesco d'Assisi (PEG): 85km (1h 20 mins by car)
    Airport transfer available on request
    Car recommended
    Paid parking

The setting of the village of Civita de Bagnoregio is beyond beautiful, it’s magical.
You'll love how exceptional Corte della Maestà's service and hospitality is!
Enjoy the peace that comes with the absence of all cars and motorcycles.

Let your hosts know about your arrival so they can help you up the bridge with your bags.

Contact the owner directly for the best rates
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Wine in the room and free service transport for luggage on the bridge

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An introduction to Corte della Maestà

How would you describe Corte della Maestà in a nutshell?

Atop a tuft of volcanic rock sits Cortella della Maestà, a luxury boutique hotel with only five suites. It is a very intimate accomodation, in spectacular surroundings, overlooking Calanchi valley. The village was founded about 2,500 years ago, can only be reached by a pedestrian bridge and in recent history has risen from almost being forgotten. It is such an inspiring and resourceful hotel, perfect to work in silence or as a quiet base for excursions out into its surrounding of italian art and glamour.

Please tell us a bit about Corte della Maestà.

The archbishop of the area used to live here up to 1684, which was the year of a tremendous earthquake. That was the end of the Civita as a place of strategic power of the church of St. Peters. From then on and for the next two centuries, it was a place dedicated to becoming a priest. Corte della Maestà is a part of my house. It has got its own garden and everything is totally divided, but originally it was the same building. When guests are in the hotel, they are part of my home, and my life.

What was your inspiration to open a small boutique hotel?

What I was looking for was a beautiful place to write in silence. I write in the chapel of the archbishop’s old place which was built in exactly 1500. A very close friend of mine, Giuseppe Tornatore, is a film director. He won the Oscar for Cinema Paradiso. He asked us if we had finished restoring the place because he wanted to have a meeting there for his new movie. So we opened Corte della Maestà to friends first and moved on from there until it became a small luxury hotel.

How would you describe the atmosphere of Corte della Maestà?

We’re in a natural place surrounded by art and glamour. The idea is to take a little trip to a hidden Italy in terms of its culture, past and history, and our real roots, which are beauty, music, good food & wine, as well as the pleasure to share a table together.

What made you fall in love with the village of Civita?

The first time I was here was because of a patient of mine. During the therapy, she asked me to come up to see her. I’m from Venice originally and went to Rome 30 years ago, so at that time especially I didn’t really know the region here. I went during the winter when it was raining, and when I was coming up on the bridge, I thought it was incredible. I was looking for a place where my father could come see me and where my daughter could grow up happy. That place was Civita.

How long would you recommend guests stay?

One night is not enough, of course, so I would recommend a few nights. Also, if people want to work two or three days in total silence with no distractions and total privacy, this is the place.

What's been the biggest reward to you personally renting out Corte della Maestà to guests?

It’s interesting to hear that everybody who has visited Corte della Maestà, even if only for one night, always states that they will be back. That’s been the greatest, warmest reward for me.

Corte della Maestà — Civita di Bagnoregio Corte della Maestà — The Intruder Corte della Maestà — Kitchen and dining area Corte della Maestà — Kitchen and dining area Corte della Maestà — Archbishop’s winery Corte della Maestà — Corte della Maestà interior Corte della Maestà — The Abbess Corte della Maestà — The Writer Corte della Maestà — Garden and terrace Corte della Maestà — Garden and terrace
Civita di Bagnoregio
The Intruder
Kitchen and dining area
Kitchen and dining area
Archbishop’s winery
Corte della Maestà interior
The Abbess
The Writer
Garden and terrace
Garden and terrace

Corte della Maestà rooms & rates

We have five suites at the hotel. All rooms have scenic views and are decorated with a mix of art, antiques, contemporary pieces. The Abbess has a four-poster bed, a French fireplace, an iron bathtub, and a balcony overlooking the bishop's garden. In The Sleepwalker guests will find a magnificent headboard that was built as a tribute to Italian opera. The Intruder's French atmosphere was dedicated to the works of Jorge Luis Borges. The wallpaper of The Writer is a reproduction of the one of Virginia Woolf's home.

With a private entrance, Roman columns, a rose-covered terrace, and the fragment of a 16th century fresco in the bedroom, this is one of our favorites. There is also the penthouse suite, La Maestà. It is a small house, with a historic stone fireplace, Portuguese azulejo tiles, French copper pans, and an old cast iron staircase leading up to the bed chamber. Across the road is a private garden, which is perfect for breakfast or an afternoon drink

  • The Abbess for 2 people / 40 m²
    380 / night
    • 1 Double bedroom
    • 1 Bathroom (ensuite)
    • Balcony
    • Fireplace

    This room’s four-poster bed once belonged to the Abbess of a monastery and is meant as a tribute to Stendhal’s ‘The Abbess Of Castro’. An early nineteenth century French oak fireplace and an iron bathtub stand in front of the bed. The room opens onto a balcony from where, across the bishop’s garden, the guests may enjoy the radiance of magical sunsets. This room at Corte della Maestà measures about 40 sqm.

    Free internet access - Exclusive ‘AQUA FLOR’ toiletry - Personal hairdryer, bathrobe and slippers - Daily house cleaning - Continental breakfast - Soft drinks - Use of cinema and library with piano - Fresh towels every day - Fresh sheets every three days

  • The Sleepwalker for 2-3 people / 40 m²
    380 / night
    • 1 Double bedroom
    • 1 Bathroom (ensuite)
    • 2 Extra beds (on req.)
    • 1 Baby cot (on req.)
    • Fireplace

    The bed’s headboard came from an early nineteenth century theatrical production, and is a tribute to Vincenzo Belli and to the great tradition of Italian opera. It is characterized by a series of ample windows that look out over both the Corte’s internal garden and the Bishop’s far larger garden. This room at Corte della Maestà measures about 40 sqm.

    Free internet access - Exclusive ‘AQUA FLOR’ toiletry - Personal hairdryer, bathrobe and slippers - Daily house cleaning - Continental breakfast - Soft drinks - Use of cinema and library with piano - Fresh towels every day - Fresh sheets every three days

  • The Intruder for 2 people / 35 m²
    330 / night
    • 1 Double bedroom
    • 1 Bathroom (ensuite)
    • Fireplace

    Looking out across the valley, one can glimpse the house where the Argentine poet and writer Rodolfo Wilcock lived and died. He was a great friend of Jorge Luis Borges, to whose work the room is dedicated. This room at Corte della Maestà is very quiet and welcoming and measures about 35 sqm, its atmosphere decidedly French. Above the fireplace to the left of the bed hangs a painting by Pierre Sallé, the nineteenth century French painter.

  • The Writer for 2-3 people / 40 m²
    360 / night
    • 1 Double bedroom
    • 1 Bathroom (ensuite)
    • 1 Extra bed (on req.)
    • 1 Baby cot (on req.)
    • Fireplace

    The wallpaper in the apartment’s study is a reproduction of that covering the walls of Virginia Woolf’s London home. It has its own private entrance from the garden, up stone stairs with Roman columns to a terrace covered by a pergola of roses. There is a precious fragment of a sixteenth century fresco in the bedroom. This room at Corte della Maestà measures about 40 sqm.

    Free internet access - Exclusive ‘AQUA FLOR’ toiletry - Personal hairdryer, bathrobe and slippers - Daily house cleaning - Continental breakfast - Soft drinks - Use of cinema and library with piano - Fresh towels every day - Fresh sheets every three days

  • The Maestá for 2 people / 90 m²
    380 / night
    • 1 Double bedroom
    • 1 Bathroom (ensuite)
    • 1 Living room
    • 1 Dining room
    • 1 Kitchen
    • Terrace
    • Fireplace

    When you enter the largest suite, the door opens onto a living area with a historic stone fireplace that is divided into two areas: on one side the kitchen and dining area and on the other a lounge with a large sofa and a smaller one in French walnut, dating from the early 1800s. An old cast iron staircase leads to the second floor where there's a large double bedroom with an 18th century desk from Emilia Romagna and a drawing room with a fireplace-bookcase. A magnificent door in walnut from Piedmont, dating from the mid-19th century with large glass windows from the time, leads into a spacious bathroom with a Jacuzzi hydro-massagetub, a shower and double washbasins which once adorned a Florence hotel. By simply crossing the lane, guests can reach the private garden where there's a pergola, a table for breakfast and a couple of benches among olive and fruit trees.

    Free internet access - Exclusive ‘AQUA FLOR’ toiletry - Personal hairdryer, bathrobe and slippers - Daily house cleaning - Continental breakfast - Soft drinks - Use of cinema and library with piano - Fresh towels every day - Fresh sheets every three days

  • Entire villa for 10-12 people / 400 m²
    / night
    • 5 Double bedrooms
    • 5 Bathrooms (ensuite)
    • 2 Living rooms
    • 2 Dining rooms
    • 2 Kitchens
    • 2 Extra beds (on req.)
    • 2 Baby cots (on req.)
    • Terrace
    • Balcony
    • Fireplace

    The entire villa is available for rent exclusively for a minimum of 1 week.

Included in the rates
Rates include daily housecleaning, continental breakfast and soft drinks, fresh towels every day and fresh sheets every three days, exclusive AQUA FLOR toiletry, use of the cinema and library, hairdryer, bathrobe and slippers, luggage transport from the car to Corte della Maestà (from 9-13:00 and 14-18:00), and car park permit below Civita footbridge. For a 7-nights stay, rates also include a welcome bottle of Champagne, a dinner prepared by a local chef, and use of the spa.
Optional extras
Services on request: Private chef, room service, sheets changed daily, laundry and dry cleaning service, excursions such as horse riding or in caleche, private boat on Lake Bolsano, private driver, winecard, spa.
Children & Extra beds
Children are welcome and extra beds are available in the rooms La Scrittrice and La Sonnambula. Price EUR 50 per night.
Minimum stay
1 - 7 nights (check calendar for dates)
Check in time
after 15:00
Check out time
before 12:00
Closed 10 January to 10 March

Facilities & services

  • WiFi
  • Terrace
  • Maid service
  • Sauna
  • Fireplace
  • Garden
  • Whirlpool/Plunge pool
  • Central heating
  • Not suitable for children
  • Movies/DVDs
  • Laundry service
  • Hair dryer

We offer an amazing breakfast and can offer more meals upon request. We are there anytime of the day to help provide services for our hotel guests, for recommendations or whatever. We have a large kitchen with a cook available if needed, but guests can do their own cooking or even take an informal cooking class as long as we have at least a day’s notice. Another common room is the library with a 1924 piano from Berlin.

We have a private garden that belongs to Corte della Maestà where you can stay and have a meal. Guests often use their personal computers there for writing. A spot we just renovated is the archbishop winery, which is a cave. We use it on special occasions for wine or cheese tastings. We also have a little spa at the hotel with a Finnish sauna and a very large massage pool for two people.

We don’t like too much modernity at the relais, so there is no TV or air conditioning, but there are fantastic fans over the beds. And we do provide wireless internet and have a great home theatre in the common library room where you can select movies from a big collection.

Things to do in Lazio & Civita di Bagnoregio

  • Art / Culture
  • Wine tastings
  • Cooking classes
  • Massages / Treatments
  • Golf
  • Tennis
  • Hiking
  • Cycling
  • Horseback riding
  • Sailing / Kayaking
  • Boat trips

The first thing I recommend guests do is relax, have a glass of wine, and just listen to the silence, which is an experience in and of itself. If you come from a city, you can feel the difference between the two places. Guests can visit the village of Civita, with its many good restaurants, go horseback riding, or visit Orvieto and the lake of Bolsena, where we have a boat you can rent. In half an hour drive, you have plenty of fantastic places to visit.

Corte della Maestà reviews

5 of 5 stars
Verfied Welcome Beyond stay
Corte della Maestá offered the most luxurious accommodations we enjoyed during our vacation in Italy. From the exquisite gardens to the gourmet kitchen and dining/music room in the former cistern, this artfully restored ancient seminary is nothing short of gorgeous.
Liz F. (USA)
stayed at Corte della Maestà in October 2015

The location of Corte della Maestà

There’s a famous photographer who came to visit me who said Civita di Bagnoregio is a place of the past and of the future. It combines the two. You can communicate from Civita to the rest of the world, but you still eat pasta as it was done two centuries ago. Civita itself is a bridge — a bridge between history and the future. From here you can head out to some of Italy's most beautiful spots.

Our hotel is right in between Florence and Rome, and just east of Lago di Bolsano, in the village of Civita di Bagnoregio. Situated within only a short drive from so many of the famous Italian cities, there are numerous options for your day trip to choose from. The surrounding landscape boasts rolling hills, chestnut trees, and of course, olive groves and vineyards. Orvieto, Bamarzo, Caprarola, Bagnaia, Viterbo are close by and the Tyrrhenian Sea can be reached in less than two hours by car. Even Arezzo, Florence or Rome are still close enough for a day excursion.

When is the best time to visit Lazio?

Anytime of the year is good in this part of Italy, maybe excluding February. Summer is fantastic, but autumn and spring are also nice seasons. I have no favorite season. I stay there any time of the year I can.