The conference will be held in Villa Mondragone, an historical Roman villa built in the middle of the XVI century, on the Tuscolani hills. The villa is located within the township of Monte Porzio Catone, about 25 km south-east of Roma.

Villa Mondragone is a magnificent Renaissance Palace on the Alban hills overlooking Rome (Area Map). It was built between 1573 and 1577 on the site of a Roman Villa on commission of Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps, nephew of Pope Pius IV, in order to give hospitality to the Papal court and mainly to the new Pope, Gregory XIII. The Villa was called Mondragone (Mount Dragon) referring to the coat of arms of Gregory XIII who issued in the Villa itself, in 1582, the bull of reform of the Julian calendar.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Villas and gardens built on the hills of the Tuscolo are comparable, for their architectonic quality and landscaped and for a remarkable geographic extension, with famous systems of the Palladiane villas and of the Loira castles.

The Roman aristocracy of ancient republican age had already chosen these places to build their summer residences.

However it is from the middle of the XVI century to the XVII century that the tuscolani hills knew their maximum residential expansion, due to Roman Church cardinals.

Fulcrum of this development is the imposing architectonical complex of Villa Mondragone. The construction built on the remains of the foundations of a Roman villa was chosen by cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps to host Pope Gregorio XII Boncompagni, around 1570.

It was in this splendid villa that "the reorder of the compute of time" was first conceived, later to be realized with the Gregorian calendar reform.

Currently Villa Mondragone hosts events promoted by the University of Roma Tor Vergata.
 
 

 

• Timetables of railway link from Rome to Frascati (pdf)
• Map of local train links (jpg)
• Map of Frascati and main hotels (jpg)
• Road map to Villa Mondragone (jpg); Hotel Villa Vecchia is located at the point marked as "Ingresso A" on this map.

• From Fiumicino airport (FCO) you can take:

1) a fast train, called Leonardo Express, to Roma Termini railway station; there is a direct connection roughly every 30 minutes (check the timetable) and the ticket costs 8,77 Euro. Then follow the instructions from Roma Termini railway station (see below).
2) (not recommended) a local train, that does not go to Roma Termini railway station, that goes to the railway station Roma Tuscolana. When you are in Roma Tuscolana railway station, you have to walk half a kilometer on the left to reach the underground station "Ponte Lungo" on the metro Linea A. Take the underground Linea A to the final stop Anagnina (ticket 0,77 Euro). At the Anagnina station, follow the sign "Partenza autolinee extraurbane" and then go to the bus shelter no. 6 (timetable). Take a blue CO.TRA.L. bus (direction Rocca Priora) to Monte Porzio Catone (ticket 2,00 Euro) and ask the driver to stop at Villa Vecchia Hotel.
• From Roma Termini railway station: BY TRAIN from Roma Termini railway station to Frascati railway station (timetable). The train ride is approximately 30 minutes; a one-way ticket costs 1,65 Euro. From Frascati downtown, Villa Mondragone can be reached by taxi with a 10 minute ride.
• From downtown Roma: we recommend to reach Termini railway station and then follow the istructions above. Alternatively, take the underground Linea A to the final stop Anagnina (ticket 0,77 Euro). At the Anagnina station, follow the sign "Partenza autolinee extraurbane" and then go to the bus shelter no. 6 (timetable). Take a blue CO.TRA.L. bus direction Rocca Priora to Monte Porzio Catone (ticket 2,00 Euro) and ask the driver to stop at Villa Vecchia Hotel.
• From the conference hotels: a conference shuttle will be available (timetables and meeting points). From the conference hotel Villa Vecchia, Villa Mondragone can also be reached on foot.
• By car:
From highway A1 Milano - Napoli or from highway A24 Roma - L'Aquila/Pescara: follow direction Roma Sud, exit Monte Porzio Catone, then follow signs to Villa Mondragone and Hotel Villa Vecchia.From highway A1 Roma - Napoli: exit Monte Porzio Catone, then follow signs to Villa Mondragone and Hotel Villa Vecchia.From downtown Roma: take the G.R.A. (Grande Raccordo Anulare, the ring highway around Roma) to the highway A1 Roma - Napoli, then exit Monte Porzio Catone. Follow signs to Villa Mondragone and Hotel Villa Vecchia.

• From Fiumicino airport (FCO) you can take:
• a fast train, called Leonardo Express, to Roma Termini railway station; there is a direct connection roughly every 30 minutes (check the timetable) and the ticket costs 8,77 Euro. Then follow the instructions from Roma Termini railway station (see below).
• a taxi. The cost should be around 70 Euro. Take only authorized taxis (yellow and white cars with meters).
• From Roma Termini railway station: BY TRAIN from Roma Termini railway station to Frascati railway station (timetable). The train ride is approximately 30 minutes; a one-way ticket costs 1,65 Euro. From Frascati station, the hotels can be reached by taxi with a 5 minute ride.
• From Ciampino airport you can either take:
• a bus to Ciampino railway station (there is a bus roughly every 30 minutes); then take the train to Frascati railway station (there is a direct connection every hour and the trip lasts 12 minutes).

a taxi. The cost should be around 40-50 Euro. Take only authorized taxis (yellow and white cars with meters).