The Tusculan Hermitage of the Camaldolese monks, Monte Porzio Catone

On the way up to Tusculum, in the woods above Monte Porzio Catone, there is a gate that is always closed. Behind it lies one of the most secluded places in the Castelli Romani: the Tusculan Hermitage, the monastery of the Camaldolese hermits built at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

What is the Tusculan Hermitage?

It is a monastery of hermits, monks who live mostly alone, in prayer and silence. It belongs to the Congregation of the Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona and is its mother house: the Major Father, who leads the whole congregation, lives here, and this is where novices for Italy are trained.

The hermitage stands at over 500 metres on the slopes of Monte Tuscolo, in the municipality of Monte Porzio Catone and inside the Castelli Romani Regional Park.

When was it built?

Work began in 1607 and lasted about six years. The hermitage was built on the site of an ancient Roman villa, in the same years in which the papal families were filling these hills with villas: Villa Mondragone, Villa Vecchia and the other Tusculan villas. The monks deliberately chose a secluded spot, far from court life.

Who are the Camaldolese of Monte Corona?

The Camaldolese follow the rule of Saint Romuald, the Benedictine monk who founded the hermitage of Camaldoli, near Arezzo. In 1520 Father Paolo Giustiniani left Camaldoli for an even more solitary life and founded the hermitage of Monte Corona, near Umbertide in Umbria: with the permission of Pope Leo X more hermitages followed, and Pope Clement VII recognised the new company, which became independent in 1529.

After the unification of Italy the hermitage in Umbria was abandoned and in 1861 the mother house moved here, to Tusculum. The congregation has never been large: in the eighteenth century, at its peak, it had a little over five hundred members in about thirty hermitages.

What is it like?

The complex is large and spread out. Near the entrance are the shared buildings; on the left are about fifteen small houses in a row, where the monks live. In the middle is the church of San Romualdo, with an eighteenth century facade. The hermitage also has a library of about thirty thousand volumes on the history of religious orders, open only to scholars.

Can you visit it?

No, not as a tourist site. The gate stays shut and a notice explains that visits are possible only with permission and not for tourism. Women are not allowed in, except at the porter’s lodge. The rule still applies today.

You can, however, go as far as the gate: by car, from the road that climbs towards Tusculum, with a short detour, or on foot from Frascati, as described in walking to Tusculum. The walk through the woods and the silence of the place are worth the climb, perhaps together with a visit to the Tusculum archaeological park.

What wine comes from the hermitage?

There are vineyards around the hermitage. Their grapes make a Frascati Superiore DOCG that carries the hermitage’s name and was named official wine of the Jubilee of Mercy. It is another thread linking these hills to Frascati wine.

In short

• What: the hermitage and mother house of the Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona.
• Where: Via del Tuscolo 45, Monte Porzio Catone, at over 500 metres on the slopes of Tusculum.
• Built: from 1607, in about six years, on the remains of a Roman villa; mother house since 1861.
• Inside: about fifteen small houses for the monks, the church of San Romualdo, a library of about thirty thousand volumes.
• Visits: not for tourists, only with permission; women may not enter.