ROME — For families planning a trip to Italy, the usual itinerary often revolves around Rome, Florence, and Venice. But a newly released children’s book is offering a different kind of adventure: one that leads young readers and their parents to a hidden medieval village in the Lazio countryside, about 90 minutes north of Rome.
Giulio Gargiullo’s “Simonetta, Ruggero and the Cherry Forest of Celleno” blends a fictional story with the real village of Celleno, a hilltop destination known for its abandoned historic quarter, called “Il Borgo Fantasma” — the Ghost Village. The book’s final pages include a QR code that takes readers to aerial drone footage of the actual village, letting children see the castle, landscape, and historic streets before they ever set foot there.
The concept turns sightseeing into a narrative experience. Children first explore the village through the eyes of the book’s young heroes, Simonetta and Ruggero, and then discover that the places they’ve been reading about are real and can be visited. “I wanted children to enter Celleno through imagination and then discover that the place they have been dreaming about actually exists,” Gargiullo said in a press release. “If a family reading the story decides to leave the usual tourist route for a day and discover the village together, the fairy tale has completed its journey.”
Celleno, located in the province of Viterbo, is part of the Tuscia region, an area rich in Etruscan history dating back to the 7th century BC. The village was previously listed by The Telegraph among 25 Italian ghost towns described as “frozen in time.” Its Orsini Castle still overlooks the town, and the story’s heroine, Simonetta, is loosely inspired by a woman from the Gatti family, which controlled Celleno for over a century before the Orsini took ownership.
The book has received the official patronage of the Municipality of Celleno, and Gargiullo was named an honorary citizen of the village in 2024 for his efforts to promote it internationally. The book also introduces “Little Guardians of Nature,” encouraging children to take simple actions like leaving water for birds, caring for a plant, and picking up litter, adding an environmental education component.
By connecting children’s literature, family travel, local history, nature, and digital technology, the book gives parents a way to introduce children to a destination before arriving in Italy — or inspire a future visit. For families seeking a children’s book about Italy for a trip, “Simonetta, Ruggero and the Cherry Forest of Celleno” is available worldwide on Amazon in English and Italian editions, in print and Kindle formats.
The book’s release comes as travelers increasingly seek lesser-known destinations to avoid overtourism. Celleno offers an alternative to Italy’s best-known tourist spots, with its atmospheric ghost village and surrounding countryside, and is within easy reach of Viterbo and Orvieto. The area’s history extends beyond the Middle Ages, with archaeological evidence of Etruscan settlement from around the 7th century BC, and Roman control beginning in the 3rd century BC.
For parents traveling in Italy with children, the book provides a new way to make sightseeing engaging. By reading the story first, children become invested in the village’s landmarks and history before they arrive, turning a simple visit into a quest to see the places they’ve already come to know through the book. As Gargiullo puts it, the fairy tale completes its journey when families step off the beaten path and discover Celleno together.
