Zagarolo
Encyclopedia
Zagarolo is a town and comune
in the province of Rome
, in the region of Lazio of central Italy
.
It has 14,620 inhabitants, a total area of 28 km2.
Zagarolo borders the following municipalities: Colonna, Gallicano nel Lazio
, Monte Compatri
, Palestrina
, Rome
, San Cesareo
(former frazione
of Zagarolo).
It is the birthplace of composer Goffredo Petrassi
..
, thanks to an agreement with the Province of Rome and the City of Zagarolo, has started preparations to open a new branch at the Rospigliosi Palace. As an integral part of its project and a prelude to the opening of its new branch, Touro University, Rome, in collaboration with the City of Zagarolo, will be organizing, starting in Fall 2008, independent, not-for-credit English courses for the population of Zagarolo and the surrounding area.
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
in the province of Rome
Province of Rome
The Province of Rome , is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. The province can be viewed as the extended metropolitan area of the city of Rome, although in its more peripheral portions, especially to the north, it comprises towns surrounded by rural landscape.-Geography:The Province of Rome...
, in the region of Lazio of central Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
It has 14,620 inhabitants, a total area of 28 km2.
Zagarolo borders the following municipalities: Colonna, Gallicano nel Lazio
Gallicano nel Lazio
Gallicano nel Lazio is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 25 km east of Rome.-External links:*...
, Monte Compatri
Monte Compatri
Monte Compatri is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 20 km southeast of Rome on the Alban Hills. It is one of the Castelli Romani.-History:...
, Palestrina
Palestrina
Palestrina is an ancient city and comune with a population of about 18,000, in Lazio, c. 35 km east of Rome...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, San Cesareo
San Cesareo
San Cesareo is a town and comune in the province of Rome. In ancient times, it was on the Via Labicana or Via Latina, 18 miles from Rome....
(former frazione
Frazione
A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...
of Zagarolo).
It is the birthplace of composer Goffredo Petrassi
Goffredo Petrassi
Goffredo Petrassi was an Italian composer of modern classical music, conductor, and teacher. He is considered one of the most influential Italian composers of the twentieth century.-Life:...
..
Main sights
- The Tondo (as it is called by the local population) is located at the Colle del Pero hill. It is a rare example of an ancient roman Ludus dated to the 1st century AD, a sort of a little amphitheatreAmphitheatreAn amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
used as a gym or training ground for gladiators (see List of Roman amphitheatres). - The Palazzo Rospigliosi, in the city center, occupies the site of an ancient medieval caste, which is first referenced to when Pope Paschal II destroyed Zagarolo in early 12th century after the rebellion of the Colonna family, of which the palace was one of the strongholds. For many centuries it remained under the Colonna influence, and was besieged and destroyed several times due to the rivalry between the papacy and the Colonna family. In the 16th century the Colonnas and the papacy started having peaceful relationships, and Zagarolo became a duchyDuchyA duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...
, hence the Palace became known as Palazzo Ducale. The palace now was used as a residence and two major wings were added to it towards the piazza, frescoes were painted and a hanging gardenHanging GardenHanging Garden may refer to:*Hanging garden , a type of garden*The Hanging Garden, a film by Thom Fitzgerald* The Hanging Garden , a 1997 album, the soundtrack to The Hanging Garden...
was built. In 1591 a council of eight cardinals was held in the Palace, with the mission to revise the Bible for a printed edition, among them were Marcantonio ColonnaMarcantonio ColonnaMarcantonio II Colonna , Duke and Prince of Paliano, was an Italian general and admiral.-Biography:...
(the cardinal) and Saint Robert Bellarmine. The building is characterized by frescoes painted by manierist artists of 16th century, attributed to Dutch painters, to Antonio TempestaAntonio TempestaAntonio Tempesta was an Italian painter and engraver, a point of connection between Baroque Rome and the culture of Antwerp. He was born and trained in Florence and painted in a variety of styles, influenced to some degree by "Contra-Maniera" or Counter-Mannerism...
, and to the Zuccaris (Taddeo ZuccariTaddeo ZuccariTaddeo Zuccari was an Italian painter, one of the most popular members of the Roman mannerist school.-Biography:...
and Federico ZuccariFederico ZuccariFederico Zuccari, also known as Federigo Zuccaro , was an Italian Mannerist painter and architect, active both in Italy and abroad.-Biography:Zuccari was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino ....
). Here in 1606 CaravaggioCaravaggioMichelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque...
created masterpieces for the Colonna familyColonna familyThe Colonna family is an Italian noble family; it was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one Pope and many other Church and political leaders...
, in exchange of refuge on his journey towards NaplesNaplesNaples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, between Zagarolo and PalianoPalianoPaliano is a town and comune in the province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of central Italy.- History :Paliano was the seat of a branch of the powerful Colonna family whose head was Lord, then Duke, then Prince of Paliano. Their fortress dominates the town...
he executed the Supper at Emmaus, Mary Magdalen in EcstasyMary Magdalen in Ecstasy (Caravaggio)Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy is a painting by the Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio .Caravaggio's Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy exists in at least eighteen copies, of which this version, in a private collection in Rome, illustrated in John Gash's Caravaggio , has been claimed as the most...
and perhaps Saint Francis in PrayerSaint Francis in Prayer (Caravaggio)Saint Francis in Prayer is a painting from the Italian master Caravaggio, in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Rome.The painting is unrecorded and therefore difficult to date, or even to distinguish the original from later copies...
. In the Palace also worked Carlo MarattaCarlo MarattaCarlo Maratta or Maratti was an Italian painter, active mostly in Rome, and known principally for his classicizing paintings executed in a Late Baroque Classical manner. Although he is part of the classical tradition stemming from Raphael, he was not exempt from the influence of Baroque painting...
and Ludovico GimignaniLudovico GimignaniLudovico Gimignani was an Italian painter, active mainly in Rome, during the Baroque period.Ludovico's father, Giacinto had been one of the main pupils emerging from the loose "studio" of painters working for Pietro da Cortona and who also received patronage from his fellow Pistoia native, the...
, who died in this palace in 1697. Later the Palace became property of the PallaviciniPallaviciniThe Pallavicini, Pallavicino, were an Italian noble family descended from Oberto I . The first Pallavicino fief was created by Oberto II, who received them it by Frederick Barbarossa in 1162...
family, until it was sold to the comuneComuneIn Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
in 1979. During World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the palace was transformed in a German military hospital. Today the Library of Zagarolo and the Toy Museum are inside the palace, and it is used for conventions, exhibitions and other cultural events. - Church of St. Lawrence Martyr (1607) (Chiesa di San Lorenzo Martire), located in Piazza del Risorgimento, it is the church dedicated to the patron saint of Zagarolo St. Lawrence of Rome.
- Convent and Church of St. Mary of the Graces (Santa Maria delle Grazie), located in Piazza Santa Maria
- Church of St. Annunziata (1580–1582) (Chiesa di Santissima Annunziata), has a peculiar octagonal belltower, and dominates the skyline of Zagarolo.
- Church of St. Peter (1717–1722) (Duomo di San Pietro Apostolo), a Baroque church built on the site of a more ancient church. It has an elliptical dome 46 meters high.
- The first gate to be encountered entering the city center from the southeast is Porta Rospigliosi, decorated with bas-reliefs in the 16th century and Roman bustsBust (sculpture)A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
and theatrical masques. The other gate, at the northwest entrance to the city is Porta San Martino, named in honour of Pope Martin V (Oddone Colonna). - The Zagarolo Toy Museum, located in Rospigliosi Palace. The Museum offers a social reconstruction of toys and the act of playing in a series of sections that, through a historic excursus, crosses the fundamental periods of the 20th century. The communal council decided to create the museum in 1998. It was inaugurated in 2005 with a positive response from the critics and the public. It holds over 800 examples of Italian and European toys of the 20th century.
Touro College
The Touro CollegeTouro College
Touro College is a sponsored independent institution of higher and professional education, in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by Dr. Bernard Lander, the College was established primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American community...
, thanks to an agreement with the Province of Rome and the City of Zagarolo, has started preparations to open a new branch at the Rospigliosi Palace. As an integral part of its project and a prelude to the opening of its new branch, Touro University, Rome, in collaboration with the City of Zagarolo, will be organizing, starting in Fall 2008, independent, not-for-credit English courses for the population of Zagarolo and the surrounding area.