Grottaferrata: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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EUR 85 - 290 Tenuta Cusmano
 The Cusmano Agriturismo is an elegant and prestigious residence, just out of Rome, situated in an oasis of secular olive trees, a beautiful panoramic … MoreEUR 92 - 260 Relais Chateaux Park Hotel Villa Grazioli
 Park Hotel Villa Grazioli is a beautiful 16th-century building set in a panoramic location in the hills above Rome. You will have amazing views, a poo… MoreEUR 68 - 170 Park Hotel Villaferrata
 Immersed within a park of 2-hectares in the enchanting Roman hills, this wonderful, modern hotel is located in the Castelli Romani area of Grottaferra… MoreEUR 150 - 330 Locanda dello Spuntino
 The very elegant and charming Locanda dello Spuntino Hotel is situated in the historic centre of Grottaferrata. It features ten delightful guest-rooms… MoreEUR 52 - 999 Grand Hotel Villa Fiorio
 Set in the hills around Rome, the Castelli Romani, Villa Fiorio dates back to the early 20th century. It offers a park with swimming pool and free shu… More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grottaferrata: Guide
Grottaferrata is a small town and commune in the province of Rome, situated on the lower slopes of the Alban Hills, 20 km south east of Rome. It is bounded by other communes, Frascati, Rocca di Papa, Marino, Italy, and Rome.
History
The history of Grottaferrata identifies largely with that of the Basilian monk|Basilian Monastery of Santa Maria, founded here in 1004 by Saint Nilus the Younger. The legend narrates that, at the spot where the abbey now stands, the Virgin appeared and bade him found a church in her honour.
From Gregory, the powerful Count of Tusculum, father of Popes Benedict VIII and Pope John XIX|John XIX, Nilus obtained the site, which had been a Roman villa, where among the ruins there remained a low edifice of opus quadratum that had been a sepulchral monument but had been converted to a Christian oratory in the fourth century. Its iron window grates gave the site the name, first of Cryptoferrata then of Grottaferrata, commemorated in the coat-of-arms of the commune.
Nilus died soon afterwards (26 December 1005) in the Sant' Agata monastery in Tusculum. The building was carried out by his successors, especially the fourth abbot, Saint Bartholomew, who is usually considered the second founder. Building materials scavenged from the ruined villa were incorporated into the new structure, marble columns, sections of carved cornice, and blocks of the volcanic stone called peperino. The sanctuary was complete enough in 1024 to be consecrated by the Tusculan Pope John XIX.
The high repute of the monks attracted many gifts; eleventh- and thirteenth-century mosaics remain, but of the ambitious ensemble of Subiaco.
In the middle of the thirteenth century the Emperor cardinals.
The most distinguished were the Greek Bessarion, Giulio della Rovere (afterwards Julius II, and the last of the line, Cardinal Consalvi, secretary of state to Pius VII. Cardinal Bessarion, himself a Basilian monk, increased the scanty and impoverished community and restored the church. Cardinal Giulio della Rovere, for more selfish motives, erected the Castle and surrounded the whole monastery with the imposing fortifications that still exist. Alessandro Farnese replaced the ceiling. Gian Lorenzo Bernini was commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Barberini seniore|Francesco Barberini to provide the high altar, completed in 1665.
Till 1608 the community was ruled by priors dependent on abbots in commendam, but in that year Grottaferrata became a member of the Basilian congregation founded by Gregory XIII, the revenues of the community were separated from those of the commendatories, and the first of a series of triennial regular abbots was appointed. The triennial system survived the suppression of the commendam and lasted till the end of the nineteenth century, with one break from 1834 to 1870, when priors were appointed by the Holy See. In 1901 new constitutions came into force and Arsenio Pellegrini was installed as the first perpetual regular abbot since 1462.
The Greek Rite which was brought to Grottaferrata by St. Nilus had lost its native character by the end of the twelfth century, but was restored by order of Leo XIII in 1881. The Basilian abbey has always been a home of Greek learning, and Greek hymnography flourished there long after the art had died out within the Byzantine Empire. Monastic studies were revived under Cardinal Bessarion and again in 1608.
In 1937 the monastery was made a territorial abbacy of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church.
Main sights
The Abbey of Grottaferrata is one of the main monuments of the Lazio. The monastery has several courts, which lead to the famous portico designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, with nine slender arcades supported by columns with elegant Renaissance capitals.
Of the abbey church consecrated by John XIX in 1024, little can be seen in the interior except the mosaics in the narthex and over the triumphal arch, the medieval structures having been covered or destroyed during the "restorations" of various commendatory abbots. Some fragmentary thirteenth-century frescoes were revealed in a partial restoration of the church in 1904 to commemorate its novecentennial, when it was made a Roman basilica. The mosaics portrays the Twelve Apostles sitting beside an empty throne, which hints at Christ's ascent to Heaven. Domenichino's frescoes, commissioned by Cardinal Odoardo Farnese in 1608, can be seen in the chapel of St. Nilus. Annibale Carracci executed the altarpiece of the Madonna with Child with St. Nilus and St. Bartholomew.
The façade has maintained, within its modern portico, the marble portal with a mosaic above it, an example of Italo-Byzantine art of the twelfth century, and in the interior is a baptismal font on winged lions, of the tenth or eleventh centuries. Noteworthy also is the Romanesque campanile (twelfth century), with five storeys of tripartite arched windows.
The library of the Abbey which contains some 50,000 volumes has a paper conservation Laboratorio di Restauro that was entrusted with the conservation of Leonardo's Codex Atlanticus from the Biblioteca Ambrosiana,; the library houses writings of St. Nilus and his pupils and a rare copy of Alvise Cadamosto's, collected travel accounts printed in the early sixteenth century.
Twin cities
- Vandœuvre, France.
External links
(Italian)
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Grottaferrata". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.