There are six rustic and welcoming apartments with three more (possibly) on the way in the next year. There are NO frills at Monte Sante Marie.
The original structures and names of those who at one time inhabited them have been maintained and have been transformed into a roughly twenty guest capacity. It is a breathtaking panorama of antique doors with giant locks. The only newness you’ll find is the services (all complete baths with showers) and the heating. The furnishings are sparse, simple and for the most part built out of the original antique wooden beams that once held together the roves.
Monte Sante Marie is based on the typical agroturism. The Estate is an actual working farm and not a hotel transformed to look like one. There is a miniscule swimming-pool right on top of the Creta (clay hillside), a spectacular grass terrace-cum-solarium that dominates the blunt landscape, many trails and hiking paths that take one slowly and day-by-day to new discoveries.
In the hall, which was once the granary, one can read, converse, play, watch television or have a simple breakfast of sweet cakes prepared by the housekeepers. These are the same women that make homemade preserves and jams.
Outside, the entire village is open to wandering, sitting under the shade of lime-trees, watching squirrels jump through the century-old cypress trees, discovering the surrounding ravines and trails of the thousand-year-old castle.
Smiles, tranquility and evenings spent tasting local foods and beverages while hearing tales of the village told by the proprietors of the village: stories of sieges and reconstructions, as well as anecdotes to make one’s trip perfect. Or, perhaps, a guided visit of the ‘secrets’ of Monte Sante Marie and her mysterious underground tunnels and cellars that lead to the medieval door of the castle. Or, maybe, an excursion to Palazzo Primo: an extraordinary estate of the 11th century that house the “Templari ed i cavalieri dell’Ordine di Malta” – the Templars and Cavaliers of the Order of Malta.