Grottaferrata

Italian

Etymology

From the name of the 11th-century Italo-Greek monastery Abbazia di Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, calque of Latin Abbatia Beatissimae Mariae Cryptaeferratae, a compound of crypta (“crypt”) + ferrata (“ironbound”), from the double iron bars over the windows of an early oratorio at the site, formerly a Roman tomb.

Proper noun

Grottaferrata f

1. A town in Roma, Lazio, Italy, near the site of ancient Tusculum
2. the nearby abbey, once famed for frescos by Domenichino and for its Renaissance fortifications
3. (Roman Catholicism) the monastic order of the abbey, which long preserved certain Greek Orthodox rites

Derived terms

• grottaferratesi