restoration and enhancement of Palazzo Chigi-Albani a Renaissance jewel located in Soriano nel Cimino (Viterbo) was illustrated in the presence of institutions architect Giuseppe Borzillo and superintendent This project received a 5 million euro grant from the Ministry of Culture (MIC) as part of the “Major Cultural Heritage Projects,” in addition to a previous grant of 1,523,000 euros in 2021 for seismic improvement floors and wooden ceilings.Palazzo Chigi-Albani also known as “Villa Papacqua,” is one of the most important architectural complexes in Tuscia and represents a significant example of a historic residence in Lazio was owned by influential noble families and has held a monumental bond since 1922 notified to Prince Ludovico Chigi Albani della Rovere on June 13 of that year Restoration is a fundamental intervention to return it to the community of Soriano both for its cultural value and for the tourist potential it represents numerous interventions have sought to restore the Palace to its original state including the restoration of the entrance portal and fountains work was carried out to secure the north elevation Recent work includes architectural survey and initial cognitive investigations Palazzo Chigi-Albani has experienced several construction phases The first development of the palace occurred in the 16th century The construction of the first block of the building commissioned by the cardinal (the project has been attributed to one of the greatest architects of the time while in 1989 the scholar Fabiano Fagliari Zeni Buchicchio assigned it to the architect Ottaviano Schiratti from Perugia) including the prestigious Fonte di Papacqua consisting of several fountains: the fountain of Satiressa and the grotto-ninfeo with the rustic rocaille-style fountain After the marriage between Fortunato Madruzzo and Margherita Altemps the fiefs passed to the Altemps: it was Roberto Altemps who sold the fief and Villa Papacqua to the brothers Annibale A second significant development took place precisely in the 18th century such as the elevation of the casino and the creation of hanging gardens The first significant extension dates from 1715-1716 With the death of Prince Filippo Giacomo Albani the feud was inherited by the Chigi family in 1852 Prince Ludovico Chigi commissioned a radical restoration of the palace the complex was purchased by the Province of Viterbo and the Municipality of Soriano nel Cimino The goal of the restoration is to recover and return the Palace to the community protecting and enhancing its history and identity and improving its usability and accessibility for the public This intervention is seen as an investment for the future with a potential positive impact on cultural tourism and the local economy after the sound of cathedral bells echo throughout the piazza and the Italian national anthem plays, Zeneba Bowers and Matt Walker perform a concert from their balcony The sound of their stringed instruments carries out from their lofted stage in Soriano nel Cimino and streams on speakers throughout the town square for all to hear. Some nights it's the Beatles or one of Walker's singer-songwriter tunes They like to weave in early Italian baroque They play as much Italian music as they can — to bolster the spirits of their neighbors and showcase the country's rich musical history Morale is key in this coronavirus quarantine It's the national pride that helps people persevere Bowers and Walker hope to play a small part in that They never expected to be in this situation — quarantined with their three cats in a 500-square-foot apartment in the mountains north of Rome The former Nashville Symphony Orchestra musicians moved to Italy four months ago to start a music performance and a travel consulting business Both pursuits have been devastated by the national quarantine that keeps them on lockdown day after day So instead, they play music from their tiny home They stream it live on Facebook and pipe it into the piazza, so their neighbors can look out the window and see them on the terrace connected by the resonating notes of a violin and cello Italy has been devastated by COVID-19 outbreaks it left residents struggling to cope with death and isolation Last Friday, the first diagnosed case of COVID-19 arrived in their town As nervous as they are for themselves they are even more fearful for their relatives across the United States and their friends and former neighbors in Tennessee responding as if everything that is happening there is a surprise when the exact path of the virus is so clear from what has happened here," Bowers said so it seems that they find ways to justify keeping things open 'Italy is full of old people,' or 'Social distancing will solve it,' or the most shocking Only one of them can leave at a time they must fill out a form that explains why. The penalty for violating the rules is approximately $3,300 people in their new town made them feel very welcome something for which they are deeply grateful They helped with logistical issues when their Italian wasn’t up to the task gifting them with farm eggs and figs Soriano is a small but bustling town that sits on the shoulders of Monte Cimino people would gather in the town square to talk and to shop to get their coffee in the morning or their apertivi in the afternoons greeting people on their balconies or passing in the streets "We have tried to treat our town and its people with respect and we have been paid back in kindness," Bowers said they learned that their little town of 8,000 people got its first known case of COVID-19 The person who got ill came forward and allowed her name to be public "I thought that was incredibly courageous," Bowers wrote in a post on Facebook.  Hundreds of people responded on the town's social media page offering strength and comfort it is just another reminder that we are in this together," Bowers wrote, "and we can help or hurt each other based on how we choose to collectively act." Their routine is not what they imagined when they arrived four months ago Bowers and Walker moved to Italy to organize concerts perform and help travelers experience off-the-beaten-path European driving adventures They have published four award-winning guidebooks But they have no income anymore — they can't work without tourism and without concerts So they get up in the morning and have coffee then they clean the house and plan what to eat They shop only once a week and money is sparse Walker makes cinnamon rolls from their one bag of self-rising flour and they cook cannellini beans with fresh garlic and olive oil They worry about frittering away their savings They worry about the Italian government allowing them to stay as immigrants if they can't work for months on end so they turn that energy into something they know They spend most of their hours each day preparing for their nightly 6:10 p.m Performing a new piece every day is not a small task but it is keeping them busy with something productive and meaningful "Our balcony 'concerts' are a perfect diversion for us — preparing something different each day is a challenge and a welcome task to occupy our brains," Walker said. "I think without it frustration and depression and stir-craziness would set in to a difficult degree "And it’s nice to be able to bring our skills and training to bear in producing these daily performances I also hope that our neighbors in our little valley can hear us playing it’s the only way we can connect to them." the town pipes their music in to the town piazza so everyone can hear And when they are done each night, famous Italian concert pianist Cristiana Pegoraro follows them in the broadcast — a connection Bowers helped create "This is actually what our self-employment visas were granted for — for us to present and consult on concert experiences," said Bowers who founded Nashville's ALIAS Chamber Ensemble in 2002 and served as its artistic director for 16 years the first of which garnered a Grammy nomination those got shelved when concerts were forbidden by law But we have been very glad to find this virtual alternative so we can still bring the arts to our little community." Bowers knows that others in Nashville are also feeling anxiety, particularly in their old neighborhood of East Nashville which went from one crisis to another with the tornadoes and the virus "I was brought to tears by seeing the pictures of devastation but also the pictures of a ravaged community coming together to help each other in their darkest moments," Bowers said. "I can’t imagine how difficult it must be right now dealing with this one-two punch but I believe our town can rally and come together." the days have taken on a different importance but it's beautiful — spring is blooming — and they are safe even as the magnitude of what they are experiencing weighs heavy on their minds Last Thursday they broadcast "Buonasera Soriano" No a Schmeltzer sonata that Bowers really loves Bowers said, and it builds and builds the same general idea expands to include so many moods," she said "I've struggled with this piece a bit in the last week while I reworked it But I am choosing now to hear the exuberant ending and imagine the potential for the good that may happen Reach Jessica Bliss at 615-259-8253 and jbliss@tennessean.com or on Twitter @jlbliss and please support local journalism Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content I'm quarantined with my husband and three cats in a 500-square-foot apartment in Soriano nel Cimino We moved here four months ago and we are not yet fluent with the language We have no family here; the first time we set foot in this town was February 2019 almost exactly a year before the recent quarantine began Both our businesses—music performance and travel consulting—have been devastated by the national quarantine Every time we leave the apartment (and only one can leave at a time we must fill out a form explaining why we are outside The penalty for violating the rules is approximately $3,300 But I'm not afraid for us—if you are reading this in the United States my husband Matt and I were working in a symphony orchestra together I founded ALIAS Chamber Ensemble; for the next 16 years I functioned as its artistic director overseeing dozens of commissions of new music by American composers and four CD recordings In 2014 we founded a travel consulting business and published four guidebooks helping travelers create immersive and authentic itineraries in Italy and Ireland but had no idea how that could work financially or logistically We found an apartment we loved with a stunning view that cost less than $30,000 We consulted an immigration lawyer who advised us to apply for visas to work as freelancers based on our extensive experience as concert presenters and artists These visas are incredibly difficult to obtain We took a leap of faith and sold our home and nearly everything in it quit our stable orchestra jobs with good benefits and moved to Italy with our herd of cats and a few boxes of personal items to chart a new life here Our plan was to make a living performing and organizing concerts and also continuing our travel consulting and writing until this COVID-19 pandemic shuttered nearly everything countrywide town of around 9,000 people sitting on the shoulders of Monte Cimino picturesque and full of history but with few tourists People gather daily and nightly in the town square to chat (We hadn't yet applied for the visas.) We didn't know if we would be living here permanently and not very well at all—we had only been here a couple of times But something about this little town just made us feel like it was all going to be OK Perhaps it was our next-door octogenarian neighbor who greeted us right away with the most incredible demonstrations of generosity even when I knew he didn't know my (very unusual) name he would stop by with treats from his farm in the countryside "Matteo," he would softly call through our window he always just stood outside the window until Matt opened the door Then he would give us a bag of figs or a dozen eggs At one point we joked that we may never have to go vegetable shopping again we have found that this type of generosity and community was not limited to our neighbor Even though we have no family here and our primitive Italian with American accents sometimes make it hard for our neighbors to understand us we decided immediately to start a concert series on our balcony It is the only way we can really give back to our community right now when we are so rarely permitted to leave our home But knowing how important community and important music are here we thought we might be able to help lift spirits and bring people together—something to break the monotony and the stress of being cooped up with no firm end in sight We realized that not everyone would be able to hear us so we decided to broadcast it on Facebook Live so our neighbors could listen on their phones and look out their windows and see us up on our terrace at the same time After the first night we got a call from the city: Could we postpone the start of our concert until 6:10 p.m. so the town could play the national anthem in the town piazza Would we be willing to be broadcast into the piazza too we play a different piece from our balcony one of Matt's singer/songwriter tunes or early Italian baroque We try to play as much Italian music as we can to buoy our Italian neighbors by showcasing their rich history of music Morale is key in this quarantine; national pride and sacrifice is helping people maintain the quarantine About a week into the concerts it occurred to us that it might be a boon to our neighbors to also hear a famous Italian artist so we reached out to concert pianist Cristiana Pegoraro who runs a music festival in a nearby town and now her music is piped into the town piazza after our broadcast echoing off the stone buildings across the valley this type of collaboration was exactly why we were granted our visas; we just never anticipated this particular manifestation and about when we might next be able to visit our family and friends in the U.S We worry about frittering away our savings since we can't work without tourism and without concerts We worry about the Italian government allowing us to stay here as immigrants if we can't work for months on end so we turn that energy around into something we know: concert planning and preparation and we focus every day on at least accomplishing performing just one more tune The Italian government believes in science; it has imposed this very tough quarantine on us but it was necessary to save the most lives The numbers are just starting to turn around as we see that the numbers are shifting we start to have some hope I believe that the Italian government has the welfare of its citizens at the top of their priority list I can't say the same for the federal government in the U.S I would too if I was getting the mixed messages you get from national and local leaders and seeing friends and colleagues still getting haircuts and going out to eat and playing football in the park Far worse are the folks who say we should sacrifice a portion of our community so we can get the stock market back up No one will be checking the Dow Jones when they are gasping for air in the intensive care unit Money and stock options will not save our lives What will save us is community: helping our neighbor which ultimately is just an expression of community acts for the greater good by imposing a federal quarantine and then uses its vast resources to help our community recover and thrive We are learning this spirit of community here but everyone understands that we are all in this together and the sacrifice of everyone is required to get us through this it will take the goodwill of many to rebuild and restore but I am confident that we will do it together You can listen to Zeneba Bowers and Matt Walker's quarantine concerts on their Facebook page Little Roads Europe Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Italy’s food festivals are not just a chance to taste fantastic regional specialities but also to delve into local culture – and autumn is the time to go Italy’s best-kept food secret is the sagra A festival organised to show off a local food or drink (or both) a sagra is a place where you’ll eat well – and learn Most sagre have local producers selling the goods And they’re not just about the food: many sagre have their roots in old country fairs or pagan festivals celebrating the harvest and have been running for decades And while some have soared beyond local status to that of crowded international festivals hundreds remain events where you’ll dine and drink elbow-to-elbow with locals Here are seven autumn sagre that are both bustling but still true to their roots Blocks of bitto (cheese) Photograph: Getty ImagesThe small town of Morbegno is near the border of Switzerland and few foods reflect that like its beloved cheese which is soft and sweet when young but gets sharper as it ages The sagra offers tastings and bitto-centric menus (look for the most traditional dish: the cheese melted over pizzoccheri as well as vendors selling products such as Alpine-herb amaro or local honey “What I love about this sagra – and many sagre on the northern boundaries of Italy – is how much the cheese and its preparations feel distinctly connected to the neighbouring nations in this case Switzerland,” says Katie Parla an Italy food expert and author of the book Tasting Rome “It’s a wonderful reminder of how what is perceived as authentic Italian cuisine is just a small part of Italy’s gastronomic culture.” Where to stayAgriturismo Tetto Garro (doubles from €70 B&B) is a working 15-hectare farm of walnut whose impeccably renovated barn offers surprisingly stylish and contemporary rooms