Travel to Rome and Vacation in Italy

Discovering the Roman Castles, the Medieval fortresses built by the Popes and turned into Summer residences for the most important noble Roman families. From Frascati to Velletri through green hills dotted with vines and olives, in a luxuriant vegetation and among villages where fountains "give wine".

Villages like castles: they derive from the Medieval fortresses and preserve history and traditions. A few kilometers South from Rome we plunge in the land of Roman Castles, synonym of antiques, enchanting villas and good white wine. 3.000 years ago Latin populations settled around the lakes and on the Albani hills, then, since the XV and XVI centuries it became an holiday resort for noble Romans and for Popes.

Frascati lays on the Northern side of Colli Albani and is popular for its climate and for its tasty white wine. Its name first appears about the IX century in the “Liber Pontificialis” but started to be important just about the XII century when Tuscolo was destroyed by the Romans. It became property of the Farnese family who gave it the title of “civitas” under the name of Tusculum novum.

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Grottaferrata is a garden-village that developped around San Nilo abbey and was founded by the homonymus monk in 1004. Because of its strategic position it was occupied many times until 1480, when della Rovere Cardinal fortified it with high walls, four towers and a moat. In the first court was built the Commedatario Palace, now hosting a museum with Greek and Roman statues, sarcophagus, vases, sacred fornitures and many pictures (also a "San Giovanni Battista" attributed to Caravaggio). The Ad Decimum catacombs lay not far, they are small but extremely valuable and a visit is surely worth.

Castel Gandolfo is well known to be Summer residence of the Popes since the XII century. It raises on the rests of the ancient Albalonga but takes its name from the Ligurian Gandolfi family that conquered it in the Middle Age. At the end of '500 it was included in the Apostolic House and a part of its territory is still owned by Città del Vaticano. On Plebiscito square you may admire two operas by Bernini: the fountain and the church of San Tommaso da Villanova (1661).

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Albano Laziale, deriving its name from Albalonga, has an original Roman structure. It is set in a marvellous scenary of woods and lakes with many panoramic foreshortenings and is therefore one of the Romans favourite week-end destinations. In the past it used to be a stage of the Italian "Gran Tour" for poets, writers, historians and painters.

Rocca di Papa, at the feet of Monte Cavo, is 949 meters high and dominates the hills. Going along the Via Sacra (Sacred Route) you reach the majestic temple of Latial Jupiter where Latins, Equi and Volsci came and pray the God. The village was destroyd many times and the temple became first a monastery, then an hotel that hosted many personages such as the Windsors, De Gasperi and Pirandello who wrote here his novel "The Excluded". The name Rocca di Papa is a tribute to Pope Eugenio III (1145-1152) who used to spend his holidays here to put in evidence that this was a part of the Pontifical State.

Vacanze a Roma

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