Town in the province of Rome, situated not far from the capital city, Monte Porzio Catone is located in the Castelli Romani region, on the slopes of the Colli Albani. The name clearly refers to the gens Porcia, of which Catone the Censor was its most famous exponent. Residential area chosen by the Roman noble families for the construction of their second homes, during the Middle Ages the lands were assigned to the Monastery of St. Paul outside the Walls, which later passed to the Annibaldi, to the Altemps and to the Borghese, sharing the same historical events related to these families.
Sites of Interest:
- the remains of the ancient Latin city of Tusculum, on the top of a hill between the ancient Roman roads Via Latina and Via Labicana, on the edge of the large caldera of the volcano Lazio;
- the Villa Vecchia, Villa Parisi and Villa Mondragone, part of the 12 villas Tuscolane, built by the families of the nobility of the Papal States in the XVI century;
- the Astronomical Observatory, built on the ruins of the Roman villa of Matidia, relatives of Emperor Hadrian;
- the Church of St. Gregory the Great, built in 1666 by Carlo Rainaldi and commissioned by the Borghese family. The façade features a large, bright window with a rectangular shaped frame, a double row of pilasters, a stone outcrop, with Doric and Ionic capitals, alternating with small self reflecting blocks, and is crowned by a pediment containing a large marble coat of arms. In the pediment of the portal entrance, there is an inscription: "Gregory the Great DICATUM DIVO" (Dedicated to St. Gregory the Great). On either side of the front, slightly behind there are two towers, both with a clock and a belfry;
- the XVII century Tuscolan Hermitage of the Camaldoli, founded by the Congregation of the Camaldolesi Hermits of Monte Corona;
- Parco Borghese, a rectangular plain of about two acres, enclosed by a high wall, ordered, in the XVI century, by Cardinal Altemps (owner of Villa Mondragone). The large fountain in the middle of tuff stone, was placed here by the Borghese Family.