In those years, cinema was profoundly different from today and, often, a cinematic idea or the drafting of a screenplay could take place around the table and with a good glass of wine in front of it. Velletri, on the outskirts of Rome, is the place where everything was born, the farm which has always been owned by the Tognazzi family. From this place our journey began in search of an ever new way of making wine without ever losing contact with tradition. Today our vineyards are located between Velletri, the Castelli Romani and Chianti, the symbolic place of Italian red wine.

Today Tognazza is led by the inexhaustible Gian Marco Tognazzi and Alessandro Capria, who have been able, in recent years, to build and shape a team of absolute excellence, which places Tognazza among the wine proposals that it is just impossible not to have. La tognazza today is a brand and a lifestyle.

It stands for character, fun, bold and creative personality.
These are the main ingredients of each of our products, these are the elements that give each label color, aroma, accent… and life.
Each wine of La Tognazza contains its own story, always different and above all in contrast to the classic stereotypes.

Discover Tognazza for your events or group guided tours.

TEMPORARILY CLOSED.

It is an exhibition that allows you to follow the development of human occupation in the area, from prehistoric times to the contemporary era. The most significant testimonies from Lariano will be exhibited, thanks to the study and selection of the materials that are kept in a deposit of the Superintendency present in the same structure. The finds derive largely from surface collections and emergency excavations carried out in recent decades by the Superintendency, in collaboration with the local archaeological group, but there are also artifacts from donations and fortuitous finds.

The materials on display include several stone tools from prehistoric times, numerous testimonies from the Iron Age, archaic and Roman republican and imperial finds, including architectural decorations and some fragments of marble sculptures, among which stand out a female and a virile head. The exhibition is completed by a section on the medieval era, represented by ceramic fragments and sculptural finds from the castle of Maschio d’Ariano, together with a collection of objects from the modern and contemporary era.

To the particular satisfaction of the municipal administration, the important princely kit from the Colle Mozzo tomb was also loaned by the Museum of Roman Ships in Nemi for the exhibition. Discovered by some members of the local archaeological group and investigated by the Superintendency in 1990, the tomb belonged to a Latin aristocrat of the 7th century. B.C.

Among the materials on display there are some objects that are real “primates” for the history of Lariano: there are some votive finds dating back to the Iron Age, which represent the oldest evidence of a place of worship in the area Larianese, while among the materials of the Colle Mozzo tomb, there is an iron spear which retains a fabric imprint, which has remained imprinted in the metal oxidation. It is an object of particular importance, which constitutes the first attestation of a textile artefact known in the Roman Castles.

Another important element is the exhibition catalog, which collects data and information already briefly expressed in the panels that accompany the display cases and which offers various in-depth information sheets drawn up by scholars and specialists from various fields of archeology.

Some academics claim that as Carlo Fontana was an apprentice of the Bernini’s school he was actually inspired by Bernini’s work of the Fontana dei Fiumi in Piazza Navona, when he decided to create the rock effect of Lanuvio’s fountain.

However, Carlo Fontana was most probably inspired by a pagan myth handed down by Properzio and Eliano who describe the presence of a cavern where Juno’s sacred snake was kept. In fact, the Fontana degli Scogli was originally featured with two massive sculptured snakes on either side of the rock.

The portal is decorated with Tuscan columns and two pilaster strips on each side framing a niche. In the upper order, above the entablature, you can clearly see a rectangle window decorated with strips and pilasters that enclose a niche with shell-like decorations.
Inside there is a single nave and two sides altars with three niches on each side.
Worth mentioning, are the vaulted ceiling attributed to Girolamo Siciolante, known as il Sermoneta, and the painting on the high altar of the Annunciazione, late Roman Mannerist style between the 16th and 17th century.
The church belonged to the Augustinian Fathers – Congregation of Genova – from 1611 to 1810; there is no certain previous history but the only certainty is that it was mentioned in the “Relazione ad limina” in 1569, written by the Bishop of Albano and that it was attached to a small hospitale or rather lodgings for pilgrims.

In 1471, it was given to the bishops of the Suburbicarian Diocese of Frascati by Pope Paul III Farnese but was not officially recognized until the 18th century when the palace underwent renovation work followed by Cardinal Duke of York. In the same period, Taddeo Kuntz took over the interior decorations of the Palace.
The massive rectangular building, made out of local sperone stone, has two square towers and a circular one. Inside it features an arcade supported with pillars that outlines the central courtyard.

The urban reorganization wanted by Pope Alexander VII Chigi, shaped Ariccia in the years between 1600 and 1700, giving it the image it still offers us today. The authors of this complete transformation were Gian Lorenzo Bernini with his collaborators (Carlo Fontana, Mattia de Rossi, Luigi Bernini, Giovan Battista Contini): in addition to creating the superb architectural complex of the Piazza di Corte, they redesigned the road system and the infrastructural network, they arranged the church of San Nicola, the Sanctuary of Galloro, they built Porta Romana, Porta Napoletana and the “Stalloni” (former stable of the Chigi house).

In fact, tradition has it that in 768 some Greek nuns, who fled the persecution of the iconoclasts, brought the sacred image of the Madonna which is still venerated with devotion today and whose feast is celebrated every year on the first Sunday of August. The building, which on the outside has a square plan, inside has a circular plan made irregular by four large niches placed at the corners, which housed as many fountain basins, and is surmounted by a dome.

The latter has a central opening, which allowed the lighting of the central basin, where rainwater was collected. The Romanesque bell tower was built in 1316. The sanctuary was transformed several times, especially in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries; its ancient splendor was restored by the 1938 restorations, which brought to light interesting finds such as a peperino altar, and other remains from the Severian age that are now preserved in an antique dealer located in the sacristy of the church.

The ancient Roman nymphaeum on which the church stands, in fact, was probably readapted as a spa under the government of Septimius Severus, to be used by the officers of the Second Parthian Legion; traces can also be found in the transformation of the mosaic floor decorated with sea monster motifs. Inside we emphasize the beauty of the Byzantine style icon of the Madonna and Child, located above the central altar, repainted in the 15th century; and other frescoes, such as that of the “story of the true cross” of the fourteenth century, and the one with Sant’Anna, San Giovanni and Sant’Ambrogio, attributed to Cavallini.

The altars of the Sanctuary are obtained from fragments of Roman marble entablatures of the third century AD. coming from the Severan camp. The church can be visited – with paid admission – by contacting the Civic Museums.

The Museum displays a locomotive from 1916 among its antiques. It has a photographic exhibitionof the “Life at a station” with documents and objects and a true-like reproduction of the Station Master’s office.

The railway line Rome-Fiuggi-Frosinone dates back to 1907, a project by engineer Antonio Clementi. It was necessary to connect Rome and Frosinone with other south eastern areas of Lazio that were not served by other railway lines. For this reason several branch-lines left from the main one. In the 60s, due to the increase in independent transport and thanks to the development of motorways like the Autostrade del Sole and the dual carriageway Anagni-Fiuggi, the use of railways reduced up to total shutdown of several railway lines. The 500 meters of tracks belonging to the museum are the only ones left out of the entire railway line.

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This event led to a slowdown in the construction, as the successor, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Rospiglioni, reluctant to build the Church, did not grant the funds necessary for its completion. It was Cardinal Enrico Benedetto Stuart, Duke of York, who obtained the resumption of the works from the Congregation of the Council, to which he also contributed with his own funds.

Accepting the requests of the Duke of York, Princess Maria Eleonora Caffarelli Rospigliosi obtained from Pope Clement XVI permission to use the fund established by Duchess Maria Camilla, to finish the construction of the religious building.

Following the consecration of the church, the Pallavicini family claimed the right of ownership (jus patronatus) from the Bishop of Frascati, for having participated in the construction costs. But the long diatribe ended with the assignment of the property to the bishops of Frascati.

During the Second World War the citizens of Colonna made a vow to the Blessed Virgin asking for protection from the bombings and promised in return to renovate the church. Since only one bomb had fallen on the town, causing only one victim by the end of the conflicts, the promised was kept and the citizens began the renovation work, and the frescoes were carried out by painter Duilio Cambellotti.

The artist is known for the lunette with the polychrome cross, the Annunciation scene in the central conch, decorations of crosses formed by vineson the sides and fortwo paintings, one of San Nicola Protettore di Colonna (Patron Saint of Colonna) and the other la Tempesta Sedata da San Nicola di Bari(The Storm calmed by St. Nicholas of Bari), representing the Saint’s miracle.

Inside you can admire important paintings like the one in the apse by Carlo Ciappini of 1759, which represents the Virgin with Child supported by angels;on her right San Nicola in pontifical clothes pointing to her; on her left San Filippo Benizi embracing the cross.

On the left of the high altar is a wooden statue of Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, with a miter and crosierand with three children miraculously blessedat his feet. The first right side chapels is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and the second right hand chapel to the Santissimo Salvatore, paintings by the famous Maratta.

We can also see the Holy water font on the left side of the entrance, made from a shell-shaped basin from the old church. The rose window at the entrance has been added recently.

The ex-church dates back to the year 1100; no longer used for religious purposes has become private property and throughout the years converted for various activities including a wool mill and a barn. In 1850, under the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, it was re-opened for worship although in 1870, just 20 years later, it became state property and turned into an entertainment place, Casa del Fascio (Office of the National Fascist Party) and a home for evacuees. In 1974, it was sold to the council of Marino by the government and used for cultural events. After the last restoration work, it was assigned to the museum and opened in 2000.

It has three naves with a central apse and a stairway leading to the entrance. Today, there are only remains of the central nave and right hand aisle, each one featuring a chapel.

The inside is Gothic style, as the pointed arches demonstrate; during the renovation work, several graves and fragments of Christian frescoes were discovered.

The Museum of Umberto Mastroianni now contains the collections previously displayed at the civic Antiquarium, which used to be located inside the Colonna Palace. It preserves findings dating back to the proto-historical period, Roman and Medieval periods, as well as many notary deeds, some dating back to the 16th century. Besides displaying important archaeological discoveries, the museum organizes activities such as exhibitions, conferences, concerts, guided tours and thematic itineraries.

The “Bottaio” Museum

A unique collection of its kind in Italy: a whole set of tools by Alberico Bini, Marino’s last cooper master. The collection consists of 160 tools dating back to the last twenty years of the nineteenth century and is an important testimony of past work systems and the “secrets of the trade” passed down from father to son for four generations. The Bini family workshop was located in Via Cairoli and its maximum activity is recorded in the first decades of 1900 and in the second post-war period up to 1984. The cooper is not a carpenter: he works essentially on curved surfaces, the precision of the execution is account of the capacities and tightness of the wine vessels. Barrels, tubs, barrels, tubs and vats handcrafted with planes, burchielli, gauges, rulers, axes and saws of different sizes, shapes and purposes and recently restored by the volunteers of the Archeoclub Colli Albani Association. The first phase to make a barrel is certainly the choice of wood, since it gives the essence to the product (in the Bini collection the woods chosen are chestnut and oak): the wood is worked for the yield of the 3 / wide slats. 4 cm; using temporary iron circles (which give the product capacity) align the staves until the container is completed; the curvature of the staves is given by the heat, heating the wood by lighting a fire or steam; the different degrees of roasting are other essential components for the essence of the product; the finally curved staves are cut to make them even and channel the bottom; the last phase is the marking of the finely crafted wooden containers.

The Wine Museum

The “Wine Museum” conceived and built by Marco Fabi is a private collection of oenological and viticultural equipment typical of Marino and the Castelli Romani in use until a few decades ago. Together with the “Museo del Bottaio” and the “Museo del Carretto a Vino”, the Fabi collection is aimed at deepening an aspect that has always characterized the marine economy: wine and its manufacturing processes, from working tools in vineyards to the final vinification of the grapes. Wine is nothing more than the alcoholic fermentation of grape juice thanks to yeasts in the grape skin that transform the sugar in the pulp into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. The very first phase of realization is certainly the harvest, followed by pressing (in tubs, barefoot) and fermentation for one day, a week or even ten days; the vinification differs from white wine to red wine; the last two phases are those of racking and aging, decanting the purified wine from the solid residues and marc that remain at the bottom of the vats and barrels. Even this last phase differs for the white wines that are bottled and the red wines that will be left to age for up to five years.

The Wine Cart Museum (Museo del carretto a vino)

The “Wine Cart Museum” is part of the same circuit as the “Cooper Museum” and the “Wine Museum”. Set up by the Pro Loco in October 2002 and housed in a former tavern, so called because it is used only for serving and tasting wine, it is located in Via Cola di Rienzo 4/5 and testifies to the flourishing period of wine marketing. The specimen that can be admired inside dates back to the early 1900s and is almost intact. It has two wheels and a platform with two rods for towing the horse. Interesting is the waxed and padded hood that the carter used to shelter from the cold. The canopy was customized with colors, fantasy decorations, cowbells, bells and plumes for the horse. There was no shortage of tools useful for the care of the steed such as the hay sack and the bucket. Il Carretto a Vino is the Ambassador of the Castelli Romani as was “Ciceruacchio” (in the century Angelo Brunetti) who, while traveling, conveyed the ideals of the Roman Republic. The marinese carters conveyed the distinctive elements of their place of origin, thus contributing to the notoriety of Marino, almost “social” means ante litteram. The wine cart was the undisputed protagonist of the Roman countryside until the last postwar period. The carts were different from each other for the decorative devices and the rattles applied according to the place of origin (Genzano, Marino, Frascati …), or the type of wine or the agricultural estate of production. The load of a cart was 8 barrels of 60 liters, arranged transversely along the floor and stopped by ropes (plus a 5-liter barrel positioned near the carter). Carters never walked alone. They were always in the company of their guard dogs, necessary to defend themselves from brigands, both for the outward journey in which they transported wine, and for the return journey where, well hidden, they concealed the proceeds of the day. The advent of the engine with trucks and lorries, around the 1950s, supplanted the use of the cart to transport wine.