Villa Pamphili

The largest villa in Rome is Villa Doria Pamphili, often called simply Villa Pamphili. It was named after the family that in 1630 bought its original nucleus. This noble family became owner of some vineyards on the slope of the Gianicolo Hill and entrusted Alessandro Algardi to restructure the area.

This happened exactly in the period in which one of the most important representatives of the house, Giovan Battista, became Pope under the name of Innocent X, in 1644. The Villa is made of a pine grove, a field for agriculture and a so-called urban part. Its perimeter is 9km long and the main entrance is on the via Aurelia Antica. The already mentioned urban part of the of the park is characterized by a splendid building, owned by the Italian Government, and the gardens connected to it. The palace is called “Casino del Bel Respiro”, but also “Villa Nuova”, “New Villa”, to distinguish it from the “Villa Vecchia”, “Old Villa”, that the Pamphili family found when they bought the original nucleus. It is a baroque masterpiece made between 1644 and 1652 by the already mentioned Algardi and by Grimaldi, a very famous architect back then. It was conceived as a space for official meetings and important ceremonies, and as an exhibition space for the family’s collection of ancient statues. The palace is made of a majestic central corpus and two wings on a level slightly behind the main façade. The interior is characterized by a circular hall topped by a dome that allows light in from above, and that takes two floors on which there are some finely decorated rooms. The façade is impressive but austere, and very elegant. Also the garden in front of it is beautiful, although it was considerably changed with the restructuring of the late 1700s and of the 1900s, when the Villa became a property of the Italian State. The “Villa Vecchia”, still existing, consists of an elegant building that was restructured by the Pamphili family and used by them as their dwelling. Its position is right next to the aqueduct of the “Acqua Paola”, “Pauline water”. This aqueduct is not ancient, but it was built in 1608 by Pope Paul V, from which it takes its name, to serve the area of the Gianicolo hill and Trastevere. The large availability of water is what makes the park different from the others in Rome. Indeed, Villa Pamphili presents, in its central part, a small lake inhabited by a quite large population of nutrias, and some very artistically rich fountains all around the park. Among these, a very important fountain is the “Fontana del Giglio”, “Fountain of the Lily”, now moved to a different place from the original, from which originated a small waterfall ending in the lake. Not less important is the splendid “Ninfeo dei Tritoni”, “Nimphaeus of the Tritons”, modified in the 19th century and recently restored, next to which there is the “Giardino dei Tritoni”, “Garden of the Tritons”, a small exedra to host theatrical and musical shows. Also the “Fontana del Cupido”, “Fountain of Cupid”, and the “Fontana della Lumaca”, “Fountain of the Snail”, are pretty important. The latter was made by Gian Lorenzo Bernini to be placed in Piazza Navona, but, according to the rumors of that time, Pope Innocent X placed it in the Villa because it was too modest. The story and the anecdotes related to the Villa that made it stand out through the centuries are very particular. When in 1760 the last of the Pamphilis died with no heirs, Pope Clemens XIII allowed Andrea IV Doria to take on the last name “Pamphili” and to get all their properties, including the Villa. This is the reason why still today it is called “Villa Doria Pamphili”. It is also the place where the troops of Garibaldi fought against the French ones during the experience of the Roman Republic in the 1800s. It’s right after the end of the Republic that the Doria Pamphili bought the lands of the adjacent Villa Corsini, so that Villa Pamphili reached its contemporary shape. It was bought by the Italian State in 1957, and it passed to the hands of the Comune di Roma that made it accessible by the public in 1972. Only the small funerary chapel is still owned by the Doria-Pamphili family. The statues, bas reliefs and busts of the Roman period that adorned the “Casino del Bel Respiro” and that constituted one of the richest collections of classical sculpture in Europe are not in the Villa anymore. However, they can be admired in the magnificent Palazzo Doria Pamphili in Via del Corso, that, thanks to their presence too, is one of the most beautiful noble palaces in the city. Of course, if you wish to visit it, it is open to the public.

Giuseppe Rosselli

Read 3507 times
More in this category: « The Park of the Emperors

Please enable the javascript to submit this form