NEROLA

Altitude 453 m- 1,700 inhabitants

Town at the border with the Province of Rieti on the northern foothills of the Lucretili Mountains

In the village square there is a FOUNTAIN with an inscription (A Nerone tuum Nerola nomen habet) according to which the origin of the name of the village would date back to emperor Nero (54/68)

According to popular tradition here was an ancient Roman villa owned by Nero

Castello Orsini

Orsini Castle

It was originally built in the late tenth century by the Rector of Sabina, Benedetto Crescenzi

The Crescenzi family remained in possession of the castle until 1235 when it passed to the Orsini family which was directly connected with the Papal State

Marie Anne de La Trémoille (1642/1722) Princess of Nerola, as the wife of Flavio Orsini last Duke of Bracciano and Prince of Nerola, created an essence from bitter oranges to take with her to Paris, to which gave the name of NEROLI, in honor of the town, a scent still popular today in France

In 1644 the castle and the territory of Nerola were ceded to the Barberini family, as well as the town of Montelibretti and from 1728 came into possession of the Colonna di Sciarra family. Later it was a possession of the Lante della Rovere family

In 1867 the castle was part of the theater of war of the Roman Countryside Campaign for the Liberation of Rome: it was occupied by a contingent of volunteer partisans led by Menotti Garibaldi, son of Giuseppe Garibaldi during their fight with the papal troops

In 1939 the castle passed to Marquis Ferrari-Frey, whose family sold it in the 1970s to the Garofalo Group. The castle has been restored and now it houses a hotel with 50 rooms