Vivarium Novum, the last university in the world that speaks only Latin
Falconeri luxury villa. Sarah Bata
Reporting – It is an eccentric marvel, a human project that defies all common sense. Le Figaro I went to meet the fifty enthusiastic students who had chosen to spend a year there.
Not far from the city of Frascati, which legend says was founded by the son of Ulysses and the witch Circe, lies the luxurious Villa Falconeri. A gem of the Italian Renaissance. Its residents, aged between 16 and 25, are Nepalese, Mexicans and Ukrainians… They have traded their smartphones and video games for a school year for Sophocles, Cicero and Plato. At Accademia Vivarium Novum, the rules are clear: we live and speak only in Latin, or in Ancient Greek for the more advanced. The view is stunning from these hills in eastern Rome. A little further away, in a similar villa, Cicero wrote Tusculan 2000 years ago. The weather was very beautiful on Monday afternoon, and about fifty students had lunch in the gardens, under the watchful eye of director Luigi Miraglia. ” Da Mihi Salem, quaeso “, we hear amidst bursts of laughter. Translation: ” Can you pass me the salt? »
It’s an eccentric marvel, a challenging project…
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