Frascati is a comune in the province of Rome, about 20km south-east of the capital (my map here). It’s the main town in the Castelli Romani region (my map here), a group of fifteen comunes in a fertile volcanic area known for wine-making.
I’d heard good things about the culinary scene as well, so I came here on holiday for three nights in September 2025. See the next two posts for my food and wine related experiences.
Frascati is also known for its stately homes, the most famous of which is Villa Aldobrandini. You can see it towering over the town on the hill above the station.
Unfortunately as I discovered when I got there, it’s only used as an events venue and isn’t open to the public. You could I suppose pretend you wanted to have a wedding there if you wanted to have a look inside.
You’ll find Frascati Cathedral in Piazza San Pietro, the central square. I found the facade quite striking but there’s not much to see inside.
I imagine the oldest religious building still standing is the Campanile Di San Rocco, dating from 1305.
There’s an intriguing plaque on its outer wall. I’d be interested to know what the diacritics above the words mean. Most of the inscription reads like Latin but not all of it.
In Piazza Paolo III, another pleasant square, you can find this old cross.
Other interesting buildings include the Palazzo Vescovile, the Episcopal Palace, in Piazza San Rocco.
Not sure what this building is, but it looks intriguing. You can see it looking down from the parapet of Piazza San Rocco.
Frascati was used by the German army as an HQ in WW2, which caused it to be heavily bombed during the Allied landings. Sadly around 1000 Italians were killed, half the population of the town at the time. As a result of the air raid there are many modern constructions intermixed with the older buildings, but the town center still retains much of its old charm.
Some classic old shops remain. Muratori Antichi Sapori is a traditional general grocer in Piazza del Mercato.
This fruit shop next to the covered market has some nice displays. There’s not much to see in the market itself but I understand there’s a Slow Food open market in Piazza della Porticella every Saturday between 8am and 2pm.
Another historic business is the Ceralli Bakery www.fornoceralli.com in Piazza Bambocci where I got some excellent Pizza Rossa.
Their ancient wood-fired oven, one of the last in the region, is in a separate building opposite.
Keep an eye out for the Pupazza Frascatana, a traditional biscuit depicting a woman with three breasts that has become a symbol of Frascati. This one was in the window of another old bakery, Antico Forno Fratelli Senzacqua on Via dell’Olmo.
In the same square as the Slow Food market is the entrance to Parco dell’Ombrellino. I think you may be able to walk through the park and up to Villa Falconieri, another Renaissance palace. You may even be able to hike up to the ruins of Tusculum, the old Roman settlement which preceded the more modern town. I only worked this out on my last day though so wasn’t able to do it myself.
Nowadays Frascati is very much a commuter town for Rome. The Frascati-Rome railway is one of the oldest in Italy, opened in 1850 when Frascati was part of the Papal States.
I stayed at the Hotel Cacciani cacciani.it which is very near the station. It’s a bit noisy in the mornings and my bed wasn’t great, but it was only £80 for the night and it has the best restaurant in town, more of which later.
Off to a winery next!