About 1829 Giovanni Azzurri (1792/1858) for the Russian princess
Zenaide Wolkonsky who lived in this villa from 1829 to 1862
Princess
Wolkonsky was the daughter of the Russian ambassador at the Saxon court and later
at the Savoy court. She was the secret lover of Tsar Alexander I, despite being
married to Prince Wolkowsky, his assistant in the field
She used to
enjoy throwing legendary parties with guests such as Sir Walter Scott, Gogol,
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka and Gaetano Donizetti
The
building was expanded in 1890 by Francesco Azzurri (1831/1901),
grandson of Giovanni Azzurri
After the Jewish
terrorist attack on October 31st, 1946 which destroyed the British Embassy, the embassy was
moved here
In 1951 it
was bought by the British government and since 1971, after the construction of
the new embassy, it is the residence of the British Ambassador
In the park
of the villa there are THIRTY-SIX ARCHES OF THE AQUEDUCT OF NERO (366 meters -
1,200 feet) extension of the aqueduct of the Aqua
Claudia up to the Domus Aurea
Columbarium
of Tiberius Claudius Vitalis
41/80 AD
discovered in 1866 in the park of the villa
It is a
kind of tomb built in bricks, common in the second century AD, with three
overlapping rooms of 4 x 3 m (13 x 10 feet) each, about 9 m (30 feet) high in
total
There is a
marble inscription above the door with a dedication to Tiberius Claudius
Vitalis made by his father and architect of the same name and by his whole
family
No comments:
Post a Comment