Guida di Monte Porzio Catone tra colli e castelli romani

The villa, in fact, was the papal residence until 1626, when Pope Urban VII moved the residence to Castel Gandolfo. To this day, Villa Mondragone is owned by the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
On the remains of the ancient villa of Matidia stands, instead, the modern Astronomical Observatory, a structure from 1965 that was part of the scenery of Giovanni Amelio’s film “I ragazzi di via Panisperna.”
Inside the Observatory is the Astrolab, an interactive laboratory used in educational activities carried out for schools, universities, or private individuals.
For lovers of food and drink, Monte Porzio offers a large number of cellars, where it is possible to taste Frascati Doc, a white wine named after the nearby town to which Monte Porzio originally belonged, before becoming a municipality.
Finally, dedicated to wine culture, there is a real museum: the Museo Diffuso del Vino, divided into 3 distinct rooms within the Historic Center, where it is possible to get in touch with the different phases of wine production and taste the local wines.
On the subject of banquets, the Barco Borghese should be considered, an original base of a monumental Roman villa, on which the Borghese feudal complex from the 1500s stands, now used as a hospitality facility for ceremonies and conferences.