Italian holiday rental accommodation at Castello di Lispida
La Camera Granaio sleeps two. You enter this charming room on the ground floor of the old barns through a large porch overlooking the garden. This room is beautifully furnished with antiques and a four-poster double bed. There is a large, adjoining bathroom with shower and electric heating.
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The new multifunctional swimming pool has been built inside a 19th century greenhouse. There are available: hydromassage beds, a circular jet minipool, foot massage, up-stream swimming and other services.
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Some images of Apartment Il Portico.
Nobody knows for sure how far the history of Ispida goes back, but it is first documented in 1150 in an edict from Pope Eugene III. In this document the Pope confirms the Augustine monastic order as the rightful owner of the hill and the church dedicated to St Mary of Ispida. The Monastery of Lispida, built in this secluded and tranquil spot, has always boasted an enchanting atmosphere, and the monks chose their spot well - the soil here is marvellously fertile, ideal for vines and olive groves.
Lispida's life as a monastery came to end in 1792. The property was then bought by Count Corinaldi, who used the foundations of the ancient monastery and built the buildings you see today. The new owners added the massive wine-cellars and began producing wines renowned throughout Europe.
During World War I Lispida Castle became King Vittorio Emanuele's headquarters. Towards the end of the 1950s, the castle's wine-making activity was given a new lease of life: the owners planted new vines and simultaneously took a century's step backward, working to develop and conserve pre-industrial wine-making methods. This far-sighted move is really bearing fruit today, as people begin to see the value of organic production and the problems caused by industrial farming and the use of chemicals in agriculture. The owners of the Castle believe that man has a lot to learn from the vine - following cycles measured in decades, influencing our way of looking at things by making us look for the very essence of what's around us. Birds, insects and bats nest undisturbed among the vines, and the soil undergoes no chemical treatment whatsoever.
The vineyards are worked using traditional methods and age-old schedules: the grapes ferment in open wooden tubs or in buried terracotta amphoras. Without added yeast or temperature control the grape-skins are left in the must for several months - this develops red and white wines with real body, making them ideal for ageing. If you want to know more, why not tie your holiday to the Castle's 'Come and work with us!' project. These classes are aimed at both wine professionals and wine lovers who want to find out more about natural wine-making. There are seminars (most lasting four days) on trimming and green-pruning, thinning out the grape bunches, bottling and getting ready for the harvest, traditional harvesting and wine-making and wine-tasting and winter pruning.
Should you want to visit the ancient wine-cellars, perhaps enjoy a wine-tasting, then this too is possible.
The Castle aims to go back to the past in other ways too. 'Produce Trade' is an initiative encouraging the barter of all kinds of produce, not only agricultural, in an attempt to revive the traditional form of exchange in ancient rural communities.
Move out from the houses and you are into the undisturbed peace and quiet of the vines. Wander into the park for a soothing stroll towards the spa-lake, along woodland paths, rolling hills and the ever-changing colours of this beautiful part of the world.
