Frascati is a town in the province of Rome in the Latium region of central Italy, population 19,303 (2001). It is located 20 km south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum.
February 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → 28 February 2006 (Tuesday) Al Askari Mosque bombing: Sixty-eight people have been killed so far today in Baghdad, Iraq. ... Rome (It. ... Latium (Lazio in Italian) is a region of central Italy, bordered by Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania and the Tyrrhenian Sea. ... For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... The Alban Hills (It. ... Tusculum, an ancient city of Latium, situated in a commanding position on the north edge of the outer crater ring of the Alban volcano, 18 km (11 miles) north-east of the modern Frascati. ...

History

Ancient Times

The most importat archeological finds date back to the Roman time, during the late Republican Age, a patrician roman villa probably belonging to Licinio Lucullus (117 BC - 57 BC). In the first century BC the owner was Caio Passieno Crispo, he married Agrippina, Nerone's mother. After his properties were confiscated by the Flavii's imperial dynasty (69 AD - 96 AD) who rose to power with Vespasiano in 69 AD. During that period Flavio Clemente, the consul, with his wife Domitilla lived in this Roman villa, during Domiziano empire. They where both accused of impiety, probably due to their liking for Judaism and Christianity.

Documents (Liber Pontificalis) named Frascati from 9° century as little village, but after destruction of Tusculum in 1191, the town resident increased and the episcopate moved out from Tusculum to Frascati.

The name of the city probably comes from a typical local tradition of collecting firewood "frasche".

At the beginning of the XVI century the Pope Julius II gave Frascati as feudal possession to the famous leader of troops Prince Colonna of the Colonna family for his services. From 1508 Prince Colonna and his wife Lucrezia della Rovere lived in the fortress of Frascati. Julius II, born Giuliano della Rovere (December 5, 1443 – February 21, 1513), was Pope from 1503 to 1513. ... The Colonna family was a powerful noble family in medieval and renaissance Rome, supplying one pope and many other leaders, and fighting with their rivals the Orsini family for influence. ...

In 1518 an Hospital was built, named after St. Sebastiano, in remember of the old basilica destroyed in the IX century.

After Prince Colonna death in 1522 and Lucrezia della Rovere sold Frascati to Pier Luigi Farnese who gave it to Apostolic Chamber, so the feudal experience ended.

In 1527 a Lansquenet horde, after having sacked Rome, arrived out of the bordering villages to the humble niche consacred to the Virgin Mary, when the soldiers changed direction of march, so the town was safe: this event still remains in the memory of the inhabitants of Frascati, the grateful people erected a church, now called Capocroce.

In 1538, the Pope-King Paul III conferred the title of "Civitas" to Frascati, with the name "TUSCULUM NOVUM" and had the city walls built.

The town has a number of notable villas, in the course of a century, beginning from 1545, twelve papal and cardinal villas were built, lived up to definite political and social reasons, as real "status symbols" of Roman aristocracy.
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Roman villa. ...

The villas are distributed on the tuscolan territory, they are: Villa Aldobrandini, Villa Parisi - Borghese, Villa Falconieri, Villa Grazioli, Villa Lancellotti, Villa Muti, Villa Rufinella, Villa Sora, Villa Tuscolana, Villa Conti - Torlonia, Villa Vecchia and Villa Mondragone. This article needs to be wikified. ... Villa Falconieri This Villa, originally called Villa Rufina, because was initially built by Monsignor Alessandro Rufini, afterwards it was enlarged thanks to Pope Paolo III Farnese, dates back to 1546. ... Villa Vecchia It is the first residence bought in 1573 by the Farnese family (Cardinal Altemps), restored by Vignola. ... Villa Mondragone is one of Villas in the Frascati territory. ...

Frascati is an episcopal see, one of seven suburbicarian dioceses, in his territory there is the Basilian monanstery of Grottaferrata, and home to the major basilica Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter Apostle.
A see (from the Latin word sedem, meaning seat) is the throne (cathedra) of a bishop. ... The seven suburbicarian dioceses are Roman Catholic dioceses located in the suburbs that surround Rome. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Grottaferrata is a town with a Basilian monastery near Rome, sometimes said to occupy the site of Ciceros Tusculanum and situated on the lower slopes of the Alban hills, in the Diocese of Frascati, two and a half miles from the town itself (41°47′N 12°40′E... St. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Famous People who stayed in Frascati

Henry Benedict Stuart, the younger brother of Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) was Cardinal Bishop of Frascati since 1761, and died there on 13 July 1807. He was the last of the Royal Stuarts (House of Stuart), King Henry IX. He improved the town cultural life by founding the Seminary and the annexe library and typography.
Henry Benedict Stuart as Cardinal Duke of York Henry Benedict Maria Clement Thomas Francis Xavier Stuart (March 11, 1725 – July 13, 1807), born in Rome, Italy, was the second son of the Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland, James Francis Edward Stuart, known as The Old... Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Silvester Maria Stuart (December 31, 1720 – January 31, 1788), was the exiled claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland, commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. Charles was the son of James Francis Edward Stuart who was in turn the son of King James... Cardinal Bishops, or Cardinals of the Episcopal Order, are among the most important persons in the Roman Catholic Church. ... July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 1807 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Coat of Arms of King James I, the first British monarch of the House of Stuart. ...

The famous german poet and traveller Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, from 1786 to 1788 visited the Tuscolo country, he went to stay in Frascati and he recounted his impressions on his journal, the travel book of a long journey all over Italy (Italian Journey). An important street was named after Wolfgang Goethe in the centre of Frascati.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. ... Italian Journey (in the German original: Italienische Reise) is Johann Wolfgang von Goethes report on a his 1786–1787 travels to Italy, published in 1816–1817. ...

The german writer Richard Voss (1851-1918) passed his life for the most part in Frascati (25 years), here he was inspired to write a lot of novels and dramas and he received the honorary citizenship of Frascati. Richard Voß (September 2, 1851 - June 10, 1918), German dramatist and novelist, was born at Neu-Grape bei Pyritz, in Pomerania, the son of a country squire. ...

The Princess Pauline Bonaparte favourite sister of Napoleon I of France, wife of Prince Camillo Borghese, passed her italian years in Villa Parisi-Borghese from 1806 to 1811; at the same time her mother and brother Luciano Bonaparte lived in Villa Rufinella. Pauline Bonaparte, par Kinson, 1808 Pauline Bonaparte (October 20, 1780- June 9, 1825) (she spelled the named Bounaparte) was the youngest sister of Napoleon I of France, and was his favorite sister. ... Napoleon I of France, by Jacques-Louis David. ...

Modern Times

The first railway carried out by the Papal State, arrived to Frascati from Rome, it was solemny inaugurated during the reign of the Pope-King Pio IX on july 7th, 1856, it was financed by Piolatina Society and the dealership was the York Company, previous owner James Wilson, builder of Villa Wilson in Frascati. In 1884 the last part of the railway line, from suburbs to the centre of the town was inaugurated during the Savoia reign of Umberto I, King of Italy. The State of the City of the Vatican or the Vatican City (Latin: Status Civitatis Vaticanae, Italian Stato della Città del Vaticano) is the smallest independent state in the world (both in area and in population), a landlocked enclave surrounded by the city of Rome in Italy. ...

In 1901 (celebred December 17th) the Government Electric Corporation brought electricity to Frascati and the public lighting became electric.

Frascati was heavily bombed (Frascati bombing raid September 8, 1943) and destroied about 50% of buildings, many of the monuments, villas and houses were deleted and many people died.
At sunrise of june 4th 1944 the vanguard of U.S. 85th Infantry Division arrived in Frascati. September 8, 1943 is the date of the bombing raid of USAAF in Frascati because there were the German General Headquarters for the Mediterranean zone - O.B.S. and the Italian headquarters, scattered in buildings and Villas nearby the town. ... The 85th Infantry Division was activated on 15 May 1942. ...

Earth Observation missions of the European Space Agency are based in Frascati, as is a major high energy physics laboratory, the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati. The European Space Agency (ESA), established in 1975, is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member states. ... Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the elementary constituents of matter and radiation, and the interactions between them. ...

The town is twinned with Bad Godesberg in Germany, Ville Saint Cloud in France, Kortrijk in Belgium, Windsor & Maidenhead in Great Britain. This article is about partnerships between towns distant from each other; see Twin cities for the different concept of physically neighbouring cities. ... Location of Bad Godesberg in Bonn Bad Godesberg became a municipal district of Bonn in 1969. ... Central Kortrijk from the main square. ...

The area gave its name to Frascati, the popular white wine from this region. Frascati is a white wine from the region of Frascati. ... Wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by the fermentation of grapes and grape juice. ...

Frascati also gave its name to the home of the Irish Patriot Frescati House.
Frescati (sometimes misspelled Frascati) was an estate situated in Blackrock, between the mountains and the sea. ...

English language writers, which wrote down works about Frascati:
Clara Louisa Wells - The Alban Hills - Vol. I - Frascati - Printed by Barbera - 1878 - Rome
Clara Louisa Wells was a writer, born in USA, alive between 1858 and 1924. ...

Museum

1) Civic archaeological museum "Scuderie Aldobrandini" - (The Aldobrandini Stables). Archaelogical finds coming from the ancient Tusculum and the nearby area are on display here. The scale models of the Tuscolane Villas are worth mentioning.

2) Ethiopian museum of Cardinal Massaia, the great missionary who was buried here, in the Capuchini's friary, a "villa monastery" with the church dedicated to St. Francesco.

Official site [1]