The largest
public park in Rome, with 184 hectares (208 acres) of surface and 6.5 km (4
miles) of perimeter
It was
completely open to the public in 1971
Original
building: VILLA VECCHIA (old villa) or CASINO DELLA FAMIGLIA (mansion of the
family
1630 for
Pamphilio Pamphilj brother of Pope Innocent X Pamphilj (1644/55), built on top
of the Acqua Paola aqueduct
Renovated
in the years 1749/51 by Francesco Nicoletti (?/1776)
GARDEN OF
THE CEDARS
In front of
the Villa Vecchia. In the first half of the eighteenth century the following
artists took part in the decoration: Gabriele
Valvassori (1683/1761), Paolo Ameli (1739/49)
and Francesco Nicoletti
GREENHOUSES
OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
1846/47 in
neo-Gothic style, designed by Giovanni Guj, and
modified later by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911)
They
represent one of the finest examples of nineteenth century greenhouses still in
existence. The three buildings originally were supposed to be respectively a
cold, a temperate and a warm greenhouse, meant to be used for cultivation of
exotic fruits and, in particular, of pineapple plants
1896/1902 Edoardo Collamarini (1863/1928) still owned by the Doria
Pamphili family in eclectic neo-medieval style with remarkable mosaics
"Executed
with great quality materials, it has a medieval-style air with dashes of
Byzantine and Romanesque-Gothic styles, all in absolute contrast with the
surroundings of the seventeenth-century villa by Algardi. The work has,
however, points of interest and it is demonstrative of the Italian
architectural eclectic climate that went beyond its historical limits.
Frescoes, mosaics and glazed cartons were prepared and executed by the painter
from Trieste P. Bortoluzzi, known since 1898 as Pieretto Bianco: the engineer
Paraccini directed the works" (Giuseppe Miano - Dizionario Biografico
degli Italiani Treccani)
Architectures
by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911) for Filippo
Andrea V Pamphilj:
ARCO DEI QUATTRO
VENTI
(Arch of the Four Winds) 1857/59
HOUSE OF THE
GUARDIAN 1881
MONUMENTAL
TOMB TO THE FALLEN FRENCH 1851
Andrea
Busiri Vici also designed a ROUND CHAPEL used as a family tomb and later as a
tank of water to control the fountains of the park
The Arch of
the Four Winds was built using the ruins of the former Villa Corsini also known as the Casino dei Quattro Venti (Four Winds Casino) which was
decorated inside with paintings by Giuseppe Passeri (1654/1714)
On June 3,
1849 it was destroyed during the resistance of the partisans who protected the
ephemeral Roman Republic against the French
36,000
French soldiers with 75 guns besieged Rome defended by 19,000 volunteer
fighters followers of Garibaldi of which 938 were killed
On the
other side of the large Via Leone XIII there is the latest sector of the park
with the CASALE DI GIOVIO (Giovio’s Country House) built over
a Roman funerary temple
ROMAN
NECROPOLIS
Two
columbaria dating back to the time of Augustus (27 BC/14 AD) and one dating
back to the time of Hadrian (117/138). The frescoes are now at National Roman Museum in Palazzo Massimo
There is also
a tomb of the first century BC in tuff with a fake door in peperino stone
Casino delle Allegrezze o Casino del Bel Respiro
Mansion
of Joyfulness or Mansion of the Nice Breath
1644/48
project by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654)
executed by the Bolognese Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi
(1606/80) for Camillo Pamphili nephew of Pope Innocent X Pamphilj
It was
renovated in 1984 to be a representative office for the Presidency of the
Council of Ministers
Round Hall
Stuccos by Alessandro Algardi
Hercules Room
Frescoes by
Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi
The
original design of the Casino was by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667) and it is
now kept in the Vatican Library, but it was not chosen because Camillo Pamphilj
didn’t like it
The project
would have beeen inspired by scholarly astronomical references, relevant also
to the celebration of the new pontiff, with a statue of Innocent X inside,
whose foot would have been lit by the sun once a year, on the same day and the
same hour in which he had been elected pope
The project
by Algardi also included two wings for the main building but they were never
built, even when, two hundred years later, Andrea Busiri Vici himself was asked
for a project for the two wings
Fountains
FOUNTAIN OF
THE SNAIL AND FOUNTAIN OF THE LILY FLOWER
Works of
the great artist from Bologna Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654)
The
original sculpture of the Fountain of the Snail was by Gian
Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) and it is now housed in the Galleria Doria Pamphili
"Francesco
Bettini, commissioned at the end of the eighteenth century to modernize the
complex, moved the Fontana del Giglio in line with the underlying 'waterway',
enriched the channel with waterfalls and jets, and modified and enlarged the
perimeter of the lake. The monument has been fully restored and put back into operation
in the spring of 2004" (Official website of the Sovrintendenza Capitolina
ai Beni Culturali, Capitoline Superintendent to Cultural Heritage -
www.sovraintendenzaroma.it)
1646 by Alessandro Algardi. On the south side of the Secret Garden. There are mythological images
related to the theme by Virgil of the Winning Love
Mid-nineteenth
century by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911) at the
center of the Garden of the Theater
Busiri Vici
reused ancient materials and placed a cherub in the center which was stolen in
1971, immediately after the public opening of the villa
NYMPHAEUM
OF THE FAUN or NYMPHAEUM OF THE MERMEN
Mid-seventeenth
century by Alessandro Algardi and Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi (1606/80) in the Garden of the Theater
It was remodeled
in the nineteenth century by Andrea Busiri Vici who
eliminated the pond in front and made the two basins on the ground, placing the
statue of the faun on the central base
FOUNTAIN OF
THE RIVER TIBER
Mid-seventeenth
century by Alessandro Algardi and Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi in the square in front of
the Villa Vecchia
In the
mid-eighteenth century Gabriele Valvassori (1683/1761)
inserted it in the perimeter of the Garden
of the Cedars and added the front steps. It was restored in the year 2000
FOUNTAIN OF
THE RINGDOVE
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