I stayed in one of the most unique hotels in Italy — a restored medieval village in Santo Stefano di Sessanio in Abruzzo.
At Sextantio Albergo Diffuso, rooms are scattered throughout centuries-old stone buildings, preserved almost exactly as they were. Some spaces, like this one, were once simple stables… now transformed into atmospheric hotel rooms.
This isn’t luxury in the traditional sense. There are no TVs, minimal lighting, and everything is designed to reflect how people once lived here. From wool blankets to candlelit interiors, it feels like stepping back in time.
I also visited nearby Fossa and the incredible church of Santa Maria ad Cryptas, known for its medieval frescoes that have survived for centuries.
If you’re looking for something truly different in Italy, this place is unforgettable.
📍 Location: Santo Stefano di Sessanio, Abruzzo, Italy
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:14 Room Tour
05:48 Aperitivo in the Wine Cellar
09:33 Dinner at Sextantio Cucina
13:14: Incredible Breakfast
15:39: Amazing frescoes!
#Italy #MedievalVillage #UniqueHotels #TravelItaly #Sextantio
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Music:
At Rest – Romance by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100748
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
11 Comments
What an incredible place! The hotel must be unique of its kind and so well-preserved that you really do feel like you've stepped back centuries in time. What a find! The food looked very appetising too. I'm so glad you managed to give us a glimpse of the church of Santa Maria ad Cryptas. The clarity and colours of the frescoes take your breath away. Perhaps it's the fact that it's nearly always closed that has preserved it so well! Another amazing video!
Un video incredibile e questa chiesa è meravigliosa 🤯🤯🤯da visitare assolutamente
Stunning place, amazing food, incredible views, astounding appetites! What a place!
Wow! Talk about immersing oneself in history! That would be a bucket list evening for me. I'm curious if the expense was typical for what you'd pay for comparable modern accommodations and culinary fare or if they're gouging the public to compensate for the experience?
Ciao Bella… e' un piacere vederti ed ascoltarti… certamente questo e' stato un Gran Bel Video… immagini superlative un borgo fermo nel tempo, Meraviglioso !!!!! Musica di sottofondo azzeccatissima e … la Chiesa… sono senza parole per queste immagini… il cibo ??? il Liquore alle Amarene ?…Meraviglia delle Meraviglie… mi e' sembrato di essere su Discovery Channel !!!!!!Complimenti !!!!!!! Grazie !!! Untill next Time… see you in the next one !!!! Bye… a Big Hug !!!!!👍👍👍🌹🌹🌹🤗❤❤❤
Such a rustic feel and decor to this medieval village. Can imagine the feeling of history seeping from the walls but delicately balanced within warmth and comforts of modern renovations. Like the feel of it a lot. That charcuterie board just looks full on indulgent. The food experiences align with the medieval theme very well – not into offal but most definitely pretty much all other weird and wonderful tastes to indulge first thing at breakfast. Great concept to create indulgent, warm comforts within a mountainous medieval experience – Fantastic. Then the symbology and colour on those church frescoes very interesting. The photography on your channel is just excellent to capture these locations beautifully ❤❤😊😊
Ciao Bella! What a fabulous time away you had. I once stayed in an Albergo Diffuso in Sardegna which was amazing! It had become very famous and the chef there was renowned. The food was incredible and the little village was a sleepy mountain town which wouldn't have survived without this wonderful Albergo. I appreciate people taking the risk to open places like that in relatively unknown villages and breathing new life into these wonders! Thank you so much for taking us! Un abbraccio forte a voi 2 🥰🤗😘💖
My parents that were from Abruzzo use to make home made liver sausage , which I liked , hard to find in Canada. Hope to get back to Italy one day , very nice video THS.
What a lovely video! Love all your content: would love to know how to tour the church, as my fellow and I will be in Abruzzo in Cocullo in the summer: you can reply here? Alternatively if you have a mailing list I can send email addy.
Yes!!! Been waiting for this video! As you know we stayed there back in 2019 & absolutely loved it . I could easily live there…. Or Sulmona…. Or Scanno 🤣 That brandied cherry liqueur is the same one i had in my room, my other family members had a different liqueurs, also made in-house. We've been making that same cherry one ourselves for years. The breakfast spread is unbelievable. Definitely the best spread of all the places we stayed while in Italy for over a month… A close second was the buffet breakfast at the Vatican (Roma). At the time ours was the very first tour as they only just added it to their tour options as an ad-on. My brother went again (2 years post Covid) thinking it would be the same but they changed everything (no buffet due to social distancing) so it wasn't as good the second time around. Thank you Bella & Mr V 💖
what a wonderful experience.. I visited this town twice and always wondered how it would be to stay here… so thank you for showing us.. what an experience! Thank you for sharing it with us!!!