The magnificent Falconieri villa. Sarah Patta
REPORTING – It is a miracle of eccentricity, a humanistic project that defies all common sense. Le Figaro visited the fifty passionate students who had decided to spend a year there.
Not far from the town of Frascati, which according to legend was founded by the son of Odysseus and the witch Circe, stands the magnificent Villa Falconieri. A jewel of the Italian Renaissance. The residents are between 16 and 25 years old, Nepalese, Mexicans, Ukrainians… They swapped their smartphones and video games for Sophocles, Cicero and Plato for a school year. There are clear rules at the Accademia Vivarium Novum: We only live and speak Latin, and for advanced students we speak Ancient Greek. The views from these hills in the east of Rome are breathtaking. A little further up, in a similar villa, Cicero wrote The Tusculanes 2,000 years ago. The weather is so nice on this Monday afternoon that around fifty students eat lunch in the garden under the proud gaze of the principal Luigi Miraglia. “Da mihi salem, quaeso,” we hear to loud laughter. Translation: “Can you pass me the salt?” »
It is a wonder of eccentricity, a challenging project…
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