Marino, located in the heart of the “Parco Naturale dei Castelli Romani”, overlooks Lake Albano, together with the towns of Castel Gandolfo, Albano Laziale and Ariccia.
The Church of the Santissimo Rosario – www.visitcastelliromani.it
The historic centre preserves several interesting monuments and places of worship, such as the Church of the Santissimo Rosario inside the cloistered monastery of the Dominican Sisters, a splendid example of Roman Rococo with a Greek cross plan commissioned by the Colonna Family.
Palazzo Colonna – www.visitcastelliromani.it
Palazzo Colonna was built between 1532 and 1622 on the pre-existing Orsini Fortress, according to a project by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, and became the seat of the current Town Hall in the early 1900’s.
The Mitreo – www.sagradelluvamarino.it
Worth a visit is the “Museo Civico” in Piazza Matteotti inside the deconsecrated medieval Church of Santa Lucia, known as “The Gothic Temple”, under which an ancient Roman cistern was found. In addition, under the medieval village, run numerous caves and tunnels dug into peperino rock, visitable on guided tours. Among the most considerable treasures of “Marino Sotterranea”, stands out the precious Mitreo with the fresco “Tauroctonia”, which depicts the God Mithras while cutting the throat of a white bull. The Mitreo from the second half of the second century AD is located inside the cistern of a Roman Villa. It is one of the three Mitrea in Italy frescoed with tauroctony scenes, together with the Mitreo Barberini in Rome and the one in Santa Maria Capua Vetere. The “Marino Ipogea” can be visited on weekends and booked on the website Archeoclubcollialbani.it.
The historical parade of Marcantonio Colonna – Facebook @ComuneMarino
“Lo vedi ecco Marino, la sagra c’è dell’uva, fontane che danno vino, quant’abbondanza c’è […]”.
These are the verses of a popular song written by Franco Silvestri in 1926 in honour of the Marino Grape Festival, the oldest one in Italy. It has been animating the streets of the historic centre for a hundred years at the beginning of October. Grape pressing competitions and food and wine challenges take place, and the most attended event, the historical parade in memory of Marcantonio and Vittoria Colonna is celebrated.
Renaissance costumes by the “Associazione Arte e Costumi Marinesi”
The procession recalls the triumphal return of Marcantonio Colonna, on October 7, 1571, from the Battle of Lepanto, where, after his victory against the Ottoman Empire, he conquered precious treasures and captured many Turkish prisoners. Four hundred figures parade along the main street towards Palazzo Colonna, where Donna Felice Orsini is waiting for her husband, the Lord of Marino. The evocative Renaissance costumes of the participants have been collected by the” Associazione Arte e Costumi Marinesi” for over thirty years.
The Church of San Barnaba – photo by the Municipality of Marino
The prestigious Marino DOP wine was already known throughout the Colli Albani by the Roman patricians. The local winemakers are said to invoke the intercession of the Madonna del Rosario, whose miraculous image is preserved in the baroque Basilica of San Barnaba, the Patron Saint of Marino. in memory of the Christian victory at the Battle of Lepanto, the Madonna del Rosario is celebrated on October 7, while the popular feast takes place on the first Sunday of October, during the Grape Festival.
The seventeenth-century The Fontana dei Quattro Mori in Marino
The Fontana dei Quattro Mori in Marino, a symbol of the Lepanto victory, is made in peperino stone. The town is in fact located on a spur of peperino next to the Bosco Ferentano. The “miracle” of fountain giving wine occurred for the first time on October 4, 1925.
Fried must doughnuts – www.sagradelluvamarino.it
The Festival of the IGP Must Doughnuts has been celebrated on the third Sunday of October for almost thirty years, an unmissable opportunity to enjoy this soft delicacy, whose recipe dates back to the seventeenth century! The ingredients include must from the local DOC grapes, EVO oil, and sultana raisins. Other traditional bakery products from Marino are the chocolate honey mostaccioli and the biscotti della sposa.