Marino, fascinating and evocative like an ancient painting

The territory of the municipality of Marino is located south of Rome, on the Alban Hills in the Castelli Romani area, squeezed between Rocca di Papa, Castel Gandolfo and Grottaferrata. By virtue of its hilly position, it enjoys a healthy climate and has always been a holiday resort, but it is precisely its characteristics that have given rise to wine-growing traditions that have made famous the homonymous white wine with controlled denomination of origin and the Sagra dell'Uva (Grape Festival), the oldest event of its kind in Italy, founded in 1924 by the poet and playwright Ercole Pellini, known as Leone Ciprelli . Marino was the set for numerous films by Federico Fellini and is understandable precisely because of its typicality, so much so that it looks like a picture, perched and fascinating, rich in history and art, traditions and folklore that have never been lost thanks to the commitment of the population.

Telling us the story of Marino is Alessandro Bedetti, Director of the Civic Museum, who explains "The city of Marino owes its name to the Castrimoenium, which was fortified by Silla and raised to Municipium. During the Middle Ages it assumed an important strategic position that led it to be controlled by various feudal lords. After the Frangipane, in 1266 the feud passed to the Orsini family and in 1419 the village came to the Colonna family, who kept possession of it until the 19th century, transforming it from a fortified village to a place of rest and leisure for the family.
With the opening of the Via Appia nuova - continued by the Director - due to Pope Pius VI, Marino lost its role and became a quiet town in the Roman Campagna, elevated to a city in 1835 by Gregory XVI. Important vestiges of the past are still visible in the historic centre, the most important of which is a sanctuary of the Indo-European god MITHRA, carved inside a cistern of a Roman villa. On the back wall was a polychrome fresco depicting the god in the act of cutting the throat of a white bull surrounded by eight scenes.
In the upper part of the town where the fortress once stood and one of the town gates opened, stands the former Church of St Lucia, which now houses the Civic Museum.
Founded at the beginning of the 12th century on a Roman cistern, it owes its current Gothic appearance to a series of pointed arches resulting from the 15th century renovation; its façade incorporates a tower house dating back to the 10th century, while inside one can still see a mullioned window, a rose window and a fresco depicting St. Onofrio dating back to the 14th century. In the 17th century, the church was deconsecrated and its role was taken over by the Collegiate Basilica of St Barnabas the Apostle erected by Cardinal Girolamo Colonna. Inside are works by Maratta, Algardi, Ferrata and Ghezzi, while the altarpiece depicting the martyrdom of the saint is by Bartolomeo Gennari, a disciple of Guercino. Another complex built by the Colonna family is the Monastery of the Santissimo Rosario with a church designed by Giuseppe Sardi, featuring a richly stuccoed interior and a tabernacle attributed to the school of Mino da Fiesole. Not far away is the church of S. Maria delle Grazie, built around the 15th century," concludes Alessandro Bedetti. "There is a fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli and a S. Rocco attributed to Domenichino."