Marino is a small town about half an hour
South East of
Rome, and is one of the
Castelli Romani cluster of towns. Of these towns, Marino is certainly not the
prettiest, or the
liveliest, but it still has a nice feel to it, and if you are in the area it may be worth a look (but only after
Nemi,
Castel Gandolfo and
Frascati, all of which are more spectacular).
The town has approximately 32, 000 inhabitants, spread over 2, 510 km2. Despite the numbers, the town is somewhat lacking in hotels and decent restaurants, mainly because tourists tend to visit the other towns of the Castelli first. It does, however, have a small Centri Sociali (the only one, as far as I’m aware, within the Castelli), called ‘un Po’ (‘a little’), which hosts some decent nights with DJ’s and occasional live music. A large market is also held in Marino every Wednesday, which sells all kinds of locally produced food and drink.
The most impressive building in Marino is certainly the Villa Mattei. Built between the 16th and 17th century under the watchful eye of Cardinal Mattei, it was restored in 1930, although some work, especially within the gardens, remains to be done. It is currently owned by the De Fabii Aguet family, who bought it in the early 90’s from the Bellucci family. I believe that it can be visited by arrangement.
Statistics:
Source: http://www.hurricane.it/castelliromani/albano/