Property
In Rome the Mattei owned five palazzi in the rione, or quarter, of Sant'Angelo (together they formed the so called "isola dei Mattei": see Palazzo Mattei), and one in Trastevere. Moreover, they owned Villa Celimontana in the rione Celio. The family assumed control over the bridges closest to their ancestral palace during the papal interregnum, levying charges on various types of traffic, including the Jews who lived in the nearby ghetto when burying their dead outside the city.
The purchase of the territory of Giove in 1597 entitled the Mattei to the title Marquis di Giove (raised in 1643 to a dukedom) in addition to their older title of Nobile Romano. Other Mattei titles included Duke of Paganica and Marquis di Belmonte.
In 1580-1585, Muzio Mattei commissioned one of the most famous fountains in Rome, the Fontana delle Tartarughe (Turtle Fountain) in front of his residence.
Read more about this topic: House Of Mattei
Famous quotes containing the word property:
“A lawyer’s dream of Heaven: Every man reclaimed his own property at the resurrection, and each tried to recover it from all his forefathers.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“The diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to a uniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties is the first object of government.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)