Zagarolo (a town of approximately 18,000 inhabitants in the Castelli Romani zone, Metropolitan City of Rome. 30km southeast of Rome on Via Prenestina, at 305m altitude in the eastern Colli Albani volcanic foothills, between the ancient Praeneste/Palestrina to the east and the Colonna property town to the west) is the Castelli Romani town whose primary historical identity is the Rospigliosi family (the Pistoiese papal family whose most famous member was Giulio Rospigliosi. Pope Clement IX, 1667-1669, who was simultaneously a significant literary figure, the author of the first Italian opera libretti and the patron of Gian Lorenzo Bernini for the Cornaro chapel "Ecstasy of Saint Teresa") and their palazzo at Zagarolo, which they developed as the primary Rospigliosi country estate from the 17th century. The Palazzo Rospigliosi-Pallavicini (the palace now owned by the Pallavicini family, later owners of the Rospigliosi property, the same Pallavicini who own the Casino dell'Aurora in Rome with the Guido Reni fresco) is the primary Zagarolo monument.
The Zagarolo wine (the Zagarolo DOC, the small wine appellation covering the Zagarolo municipal territory, producing white wine from Malvasia and Trebbiano in the standard Castelli Romani mode but with the specific eastern Colli Albani character of the volcanic soil at 300m altitude) is one of the least-known Italian DOC wines by name despite being available in every Roman wine shop as the unbranded table wine of the Castelli zone. The Zagarolo Classico (the specific subzone within the DOC covering the older vineyards on the volcanic hillside above the town) is worth finding.
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Zagarolo: Palace and Town
The Palazzo Rospigliosi-Pallavicini
The Palazzo Rospigliosi-Pallavicini (the main piazza of Zagarolo, the 16th-century palazzo with the 17th-century Rospigliosi additions, the gardens visible above the palazzo walls from the street level) isn't regularly open to the public (private ownership) but is visible from the piazza facade and occasionally accessible for special events and the Zagarolo cultural program. The palazzo garden (the Italian formal garden on the terrace above the town, with the water features and the box hedge parterres that the Rospigliosi family designed in the 17th century) is the primary architectural interest: the garden design (partially visible from Via del Palazzo approach road) reflects the specific Baroque garden tradition that Rospigliosi family members promoted in their papal and ecclesiastical patronage.
Zagarolo Wine Shopping
The Zagarolo DOC producers (the Cantina Sociale di Zagarolo on Via Prenestina, the cooperative that produces the accessible version at €3-5 per bottle direct. The smaller private producers in the Classico subzone at €7-12) offer the specific opportunity to taste and buy the least-publicized of the Castelli Romani DOC wines in the town that gives it its name. The Zagarolo wine taste: the standard Castelli white character (the Malvasia floral note, the Trebbiano acidity backbone, the medium body) with the specific eastern exposure character of the Zagarolo hillside.
Q&A: Zagarolo
Is Zagarolo better visited as a stop between Rome and Palestrina?
Yes. Zagarolo is most efficiently visited as a 45-minute stop on Via Prenestina between Rome and Palestrina (the ancient Praeneste with its magnificent terraced sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, the most important pre-Roman sacred building in Lazio, and the Nile mosaic in the Palazzo Barberini museum): the palazzo facade, the wine buy at the cooperative, and the specific Castelli Romani hill town character of the Zagarolo historic center constitute a self-contained 45-minute experience. Palestrina (10km east) is the destination. Zagarolo is the excellent stop on the way.
Internal Links
- Castelli Romani Est: Labico e Zagarolo
- Pallavicini Roma: La Connessione con Zagarolo
- Zagarolo DOC: Il Vino Sconosciuto dei Castelli
- Castelli Romani in Autunno: Zagarolo e Palestrina
- Castelli Romani Est: Oltre le Mete Classiche
- Rospigliosi e il Barocco: Dal Papa al Palazzo
- Castelli Romani: Fotografare i Palazzi Nobiliari
