The town of Nemi is perched high above Lago di Nemi, the smaller of the two volcanic lakes in the Castelli Romani. This area was the centre of a cult to the goddess Diana in ancient times, and favourite holiday spot of the emperor Caligula. Today it’s a popular getaway from Rome, and famous for its wild strawberries, best eaten in the early summer. There’s a great museum here, the small Museo delle Navi Romani on the shore of the lake. This was built by Mussolini to house two incredibly preserved wooden Roman boats, dating from Caligula’s reign, that had been discovered and salvaged from the lake in 1932. These were tragically destroyed by fire in 1944 – what you see now are scale models.
