Marino, Lazio

Marino (Marinum or Castrimoenium, Marino dialect: Marini) is an Italian city and comune in Lazio (central Italy), on the Alban Hills, Italy, 21 km southeast of Rome, with a population of 37,684 and a territory of 26.10 km2. It is bounded by other communes, Castel Gandolfo, Albano Laziale, Rocca di Papa, Grottaferrata, and Ciampino. Marino is famous for its white wine, and for its Grape Festival, which has been celebrated since 1924.

History
The territory of Marino was inhabited by Latin tribes from the 1st millennium BC. The ancient cities of Bovillae (Frattocchie), Mugilla (Santa Maria delle Mole, a frazione of the comune of Marino) and Ferentum (Marino itself) were part of the Latin League. Under the Roman Republic it was a summer resort for Roman patricians, who built luxurious villas in the area to escape the heat of Rome.

In 846 AD, Bovillae – until then the largest settlement – was destroyed by the Arabs, and the population moved to the more easily defendable area of Ferentum, which was fortified under the new name of Marinum. From 1090 it was a dominium of the Counts of Tusculum, and later a fief of the Frangipane and, beginning in 1266, the Orsini. In 1272, San Bonaventura founded the first confraternity of Italy there.

In 1347, Marino was besieged in vain by Cola di Rienzo. It was the site of the battle between Alberico da Barbiano, who supported Urban VI, and the French troops supporting Antipope Clement VII, in 1349. Marino was bought by the Colonna in 1419, who maintained it until 1914.

Marino hosted famous historical figures, from Charles VIII of France to Alfonso II d'Este and many others. Vittoria Colonna was born in Marino in 1492 and lived there for part of her life. In 1571, Marino's people welcomed Marcantonio Colonna, a protagonist of the Battle of Lepanto, with a triumph, remembered yearly by a festival.

It was visited by the Anglo-Irish aristocrat James Caulfeild, 4th Viscount Charlemont on his mid-18th century Grand Tour; he later named his estate of Marino, Dublin after it, and built the Casino at Marino for his home.

It became part of Italy in 1870.

On 14 March 1880 the railway Rome-Ciampino-Marino was opened for service. On 1 April 1906 an electric tram line replaced the former. In 1954 the electric tram line was replaced by buses.

On 2 February 1944, during World War II, Marino was heavily bombed by USAAF B-25 aircraft from the US XII Air Force. In April 1945 during the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, Marino was the scene of heavy fighting between troops of the British Indian Army and Axis troops which caused much of the city to be destroyed.

In 1974, Ciampino became a separate comune.

In the Due Santi district, there is the Roman campus of the University of Dallas, which opened in 1994 and is used by its students for year-round academic programs.

Main sights

 * Basilica of San Barnaba (17th century). It is in Baroque style, with an imposing façade dating to 1653, and a Latin-cross plan with a nave and two aisles. Among other works of art, it houses the Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew by Guercino and a bust of St. Anthony Abbot by Ercole Ferrata.
 * Church of the Santissima Trinità (1640). It houses a Mystery of the Holy Trinity, now recognized as from a pupil of Guido Reni.
 * Santa Maria delle Grazie. It has a single nave with side chapels. It is home to a painting of St. Roch attributed to Domenichino and, in a niche at the high altar, a fresco attributed to Benozzo Gozzoli (15th century)
 * Chiesa del SS. Rosario (1713), an example of Rococo art.
 * Palazzo Colonna (16th century)
 * Fontana dei Mori, depicting prisoners from the aforementioned Battle of Lepanto.
 * Mithraeum, with an important fresco (2nd century AD) portraying the God Mithras slaughtering the bull.



Festivals

 * Grape Festival (Italian: Sagra dell'uva): Every 1st Sunday of October. This festival is very famous in the surrounding area because, for about one hour, some of the city's fountains spill wine instead of water, recalling the memory of the old vintage and the historical event of the return to Marino of Marcantonio Colonna with 260 "Marinesi" from the Battle of Lepanto (7 October 1571).
 * Doughnut Festival (Italian: Sagra della ciambella al mosto): Every 2nd Sunday of October. The doughnut (ring-shaped cake) made with flour, raisins and must (grape juice) is a typical product, a "marinese" cake, of limited production, only in the time of the grape harvest, a tradition based on a 17th-century recipe.

Sports
ASD Città di Marino Calcio was a football club of the city. The club folded in 2013 by selling its sports title and become A.S.D. Monterotondo Calcio.

The city has another football club, known as Marino Calcio 1926.

Twin towns

 * 🇧🇪 Anderlecht, Belgium
 * 🇫🇷 Boulogne Billancourt, France
 * Hammersmith, United Kingdom
 * 🇩🇪 Neukölln, Germany
 * Zaanstad, Netherlands
 * 🇪🇸 Paterna, Spain
 * 🇺🇸 Irving, United States
 * Nafpaktos, Greece

Famous citizens and residents

 * Vittoria Colonna, poet
 * Giacomo Carissimi, musician
 * Alessandro Crescenzi, footballer
 * Domenico Pacini, physicist
 * Orlando Fanasca, footballer
 * Roberta Gemma, pornographic actress
 * Luca Ippoliti, futsal player
 * Giuseppe Ungaretti, poet
 * Umberto Mastroianni, artist
 * Anton Giulio Majano (1909–1994), film director
 * Emidio Pesce, racing driver
 * Hans Werner Henze, composer
 * Jacoba of Settesoli (1190–1236), disciple of St Francis of Assisi