Frascati

Frascati is a city in the Lazio region of central Italy, located about 20 kilometres southeast of Rome. It sits on the beautiful Alban Hills near the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is well-known for producing a special white wine that shares its name.

Besides its famous wine, Frascati is an important place for science. The city is home to several international scientific laboratories, making it a key spot for research and discovery.

The city also has a rich history and many artworks, making it a interesting place to visit for people who love history and culture.

History

The area around Frascati has a rich history dating back to ancient Roman times. One of the most important discoveries there is a large Roman villa that likely belonged to a wealthy person named Lucullus. Later, it was owned by important Roman families and leaders.

Frascati began as a small village in the 9th century. After nearby Tusculum was destroyed in 1191, many people moved to Frascati, and it grew larger. Over the centuries, it was owned by different families and leaders. In 1460, walls were built around the city to protect it.

In the 1500s, Frascati became a place where important people lived. In 1616, the first public and free school in Europe opened there. During World War II, Frascati was heavily bombed, and many buildings were destroyed. The city was freed from occupation on June 4, 1944.

Main sights

Villas

Frascati is well-known for its beautiful villas. These grand houses were built starting in the 16th century by important leaders and nobles in Rome as symbols of their status. They were made for social gatherings, not for farming. Many of these villas are still standing today, and some have been carefully fixed after damage during World War II.

The main villas include:

• Villa Aldobrandini
• Villa Parisi
• Villa Falconieri
• Villa Grazioli
• Villa Lancellotti
• Villa Muti
• Villa Rufinella (or Tuscolana)
• Villa Sora
• Villa Torlonia
• Villa Vecchia
• Villa Mondragone
• Villa Sciarra

Religious sites

• The Cathedral (Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter Apostle) was finished in 1598. A new front was added later. Sadly, it was damaged during a war in 1943, but it has been rebuilt. Inside the front, there is a stone marker for Charles Edward Stuart.
• The Church of the Gesu (Frascati) was built at the end of the 16th century. It has special statues and beautiful painted designs on the ceiling, made to look like a real dome.
• The Bishop’s Palace, also called the old "Rocca" or "Castle", is a large building with towers. The Bishop of Frascati lives here.
• There is also a special place called Santuario della Madonna di Capocroce, which holds an important painting of the Madonna.

Museums

• The city museum at the Scuderie Aldobrandini shows old items from the ancient town of Tusculum and the nearby area. You can see models of old villas there.
• The Ethiopian Museum has works of art by famous painters and is connected to a missionary who is buried in a nearby church dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. You can visit it by asking to see it.

Twin towns – sister cities

Frascati has special friendships with towns in other countries. These towns are called twin towns or sister cities. The towns are:

• Bad Godesberg in Germany
• Saint-Cloud in France
• Kortrijk in Belgium
• Windsor and Maidenhead in the United Kingdom
• Obninsk in Russia

Each year, young people from Frascati and these towns compete in a sports event called the Twin Towns Sports Competition. The competition takes place in each town one after the other. In Torlonia Park in Frascati, there are streets named after each of these twin towns.

Science laboratories

In the 1950s, scientists in Frascati built Italy's first machine for studying tiny particles. Today, Frascati is home to many important research centers. The European Space Agency has offices there for studying Earth from space. Other groups, like ENEA and The Spaceguard Foundation, also work in Frascati. The town even has a special machine called the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade for studying energy.

Literature and music

Many famous books and stories are set in Frascati. Some of these include Barbara's History by Amelia Edwards, L'improvvisatore by Hans Christian Andersen, and La Daniella by George Sand.

Frascati is also mentioned in some operas, like La Frascatana from 1774 by Giovanni Paisiello.

Notable people

Frascati was the birthplace of many well-known people, including:

• Marco Amelia, an Italian footballer
• Tino Buazzelli, an actor
• Giovanni Buttarelli, a European data protection supervisor
• Pietro Campilli, a politician
• Hermann David Salomon Corrodi, an artist
• David B. Hooten, an American musician
• Francesca Lollobrigida, a speed skater who won medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics
• Arnaldo Mecozzi and Vincenzo Mecozzi, artists in Brazil
• Clemente Micara and Ludovico Micara, both important church leaders
• Maffeo Pantaleoni, an economist and politician
• Ilaria Salvatori, an Italian fencer who won a Bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics
• Mario Titi, a landscape painter

Famous people have also lived in Frascati for a time. This includes Italo Alighiero Chiusano, a poet and writer, and Emma Marrone, a popular Italian singer. Princess Pauline Bonaparte, sister of Napoleon I of France, lived there, as did the famous writer Goethe, who wrote about his experiences in the area.