According to Herman Hesse (On voyage), if you want to discover the deeper sense of a place, you have to sleep in a house of that place, not in an international hotel.
I wonder what he would think of sleeping in an extended hotel...
The extended hotel is more than hotel. It was created inside the burgh of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, a semi-abandoned medieval burgh located at a height of 1250 metres above sea level, deep inside the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park of Abruzzo's Apennine mountain range. The rooms lie in medieval buildings scattered all over the little town, with six rooms located in Palazzo della Loggia. Every room has its own fireplace and antique furniture.
Besides accommodation and catering, there are also workshops of traditional craftsmanship, a wine cellar of the territory's wines and culinary products, an inn specializing in local cuisine, a conference hall, a wellness centre, a centre for excursions.
The burgh is tiny and charming. Unlike other Italian medieval towns, Santo Stefano has succeeded in preserving exceptional features of authenticity, due to the remoteness of the Abruzzi mountains.
Sextantio srl (the company that started the project) has purchased, in the past five years, real estate of circa 3500 square metres, inside the historical centre of Santo Stefano di Sessanio. This includes some of the burgh's most evocative buildings, an area wholly enclosed in the city walls, as well as a further 1000 square metres in burghs neighbouring the historical and territorial location of the ancient Barony of Carapelle.
Fundamental to the demands of re-conversion, the project aims at the full conservation of the historical and architectural heritage of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, one of the most interesting and suggestive burghs of the whole Apennine mountain range of the Abruzzo region.
Santo Stefano di Sessanio is located less than 150 kilometres from Rome, or approximately one hour and a half by car. For more information about the extended hotel, you can visit www.sextantio.it
