Julie Friend attends a festival in the province of Viterbo and discovers that here the chestnut is not just for Christmas

The European ‘sweet’ chestnut is a common sight across France and Britain, but Italy is the largest commercial producer in Europe; chestnuts for sale; a traditional brick chestnut oven

Clinging to the side of Mount Cimino, in the province of Viterbo, is the hilltop town of Vallerano. Perched 400 metres above sea level, the air up here has that seductive draw which immediately uplifts the soul and clears life’s cobwebs.

Thick medieval walls, narrow alleys, pretty squares and cafés make Vallerano the perfect pitstop whilst exploring this magical region. The town is just 70 kilometres from Rome but a world away from the hustle and bustle of a big city. You feel you should be wearing a sweeping velvet gown and wimple as you pace the cobbled streets.

But we are not just here to absorb its beauty, for Vallerano is known for something else. And, as it is October, the clues are both hanging above our heads and crunching beneath our boots. We are, in fact, here to celebrate the humble chestnut, the castagna.

Since way back in the 1500s chestnuts have been cultivated here – the soil of the entire area is perfectly suited to their cultivation, with the strata of volcanic ‘tufa’ making the land highly fertile.

Tufa is a particularly porous variety of limestone formed from calcium carbonate often deposited by hot springs. The area up nearer Viterbo itself still has several thermal baths open to the public, which after a few hours of walking are highly recommended. Once your nasal passages get used to the eggy whiff of sulphur you can spend a good couple of hours bathing in the naturally hot, almost fizzy water, which revitalises the achiest body.