I arrived in Rome with the family, finally. It was a very nice family trip and we packed a lot of sights into it. However, one of the best if not the best was the visit to Villa Borgnese , this is follow up post with older new pictures to the blog, Let me tell you a bit more on the Villa Borghese of Rome, part I !!! Hope you enjoy it as I.
One of the most pleasant trips was to the Villa Borghese park a wonderful ,and a must visit while in Rome for all, The Villa Borghèse is a municipal park of 80 hectares or about 198 acres in Rome. It has a large group of buildings on the cultural nature as well as museums i The gardens of Villa Borghese were done following the plans of Cardinal Scipione Borghese to enhance the town and to house his art collection. In 1605 he ordered transformed a vineyard into luxurious gardens fed by several fountainsL This is the most important park in Rome since the Antique period. The whole of the Villa Borghese was finished in 1633 . The current gardens dates from the 19C and done in the English style. The park was purchased by the Italian government in 1901 and given to the city of Rome in 1903 to be open to the public.
The Padiglione dell’Uccelliera or Aviary building is located in Viale dell’Uccelliera, which has three large bird cages as a roof. The Uccelliera pavilion was built in the 17C almost at the same time as the Casino nobile, as a prospective completion of the second secret garden. The building has a rectangular plan and is composed of two symmetrical buildings joined by a vaulted passageway decorated with frescoes. The façades present a rich architectural display with broken gables crowned by aviaries. The interiors are decorated with frescoes with rural motifs, pergolas, festoons and birds. Two circular fountains, which collected rainwater, were placed in the center of the two rooms, in correspondence with the cages, to quench the birds’ thirst. The two façades are richly decorated with stuccoes, ancient reliefs, festoons, oval niches with busts and heraldic motifs of the Borghese family. Today the casino houses the offices of the Capitoline Superintendence which takes care of the historic Roman villas.
The Casino della Meridiana or Meridiana Pavilion is a second aviary , designed by Carlo Rainaldi in 1688; its name derives from the sundial placed at its center and is characterized by many marble and stucco decorations. Between the two pavilions there are the Secret Gardens, where the Cardinal Borghese used to admire rare and exotic flowers. The Secret Gardens were restored in 1999 and now recovered their bygone beauty and charm.
The Pincio elevator/lift, built at the old tram stop to allow citizens to go up to the Pincio. It was inaugurated in 1926, at the stop of lines 45 (Piazza Verbano – Trionfale district) and 46 (Piazza Indipendenza – Trionfale district), established in the same year along Viale del Muro Torto. The building contains the lower station on the avenue, the well for the cabins and the service stairs in the false tower and the upper station and the engine room in the upper building, on the Pincio level. The Pincio elevator/lift ceased service in 1959 when, for the 1960 Olympic Games, the Corso d’Italia – Piazzale Flaminio automobile axis was created, with the elimination of the tram line that ran along the walls of Viale del Muro Torto. In August 1960, for the Olympics, the service was reactivated on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, before being definitively closed.
The Portale del Leone or Lion Portal is the access to the Deer Park in what is now Via Pietro Raimondi, built by Flaminio Ponzio in the 17C. Of the original decorations of the portal, only the lion-shaped protome remains above the keystone.
The Via Pinciana begins in Piazzale Brasile and ends where the road forks with Via Giovanni Paisiello on the left and Via Ruggero Giovannelli on the right. It runs alongside the oldest part of Villa Borghese which was the nucleus from which the subsequent expansions of the villa began.
Other things to see in the Villa Borghese park are: To me the main sight here is the Galeria Borghese, (see post) a museum exposing great work of art going back in time from the collection of Cardinal Scipione Borghese. The casino ,the main building of the villa, has lost most of the stucco decoration which framed ancient statues and reliefs. In 1807, Prince Camillo Borghese sold or was invited to sell to Napoleon I his brother in law, the collection of antiquities which decorated the interior and exterior of the building. The official Galeria Borghese : https://www.gebart.it/musei/galleria-borghese/
You have, also, the National Etruscan Museum of the Villa Giulia , you guessed works of arts before Roman times or Etruscans. ; the Villa Giulia adjoining the Villa Borghese gardens was built in 1551 – 1555 as a summer residence for Pope Julius III now it contains the Etruscan Museum. The official National Etruscan Museum of the Villa Giulia : https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/etru-museo-nazionale-etrusco-di-villa-giulia
The National Gallery of contemporary and modern arts, the largest of its kind in Italy. : https://lagallerianazionale.com/en/
The Animal biodiversity in a zoological civic museum : https://www.museodizoologia.it/contatti/
The Pietro Canonica Museum , sculptor and composer, housing his collection (see post): https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/pietro-canonica-museum
The Carlo Bilotti Museum ,(see post) an Italian American collector who gave his collections to the city of Rome and is house in the Orangery of the Villa Borghese. The official Carlo Bilotti Museum: https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/carlo-bilotti-museum
The Bioparco, one of the oldest zoo in Europe inside Villa Borghese: https://www.bioparco.it/
Villa Lubin inside Villa Borghese at Via di Villa Lubin, 2 it open in 1908 and until 1945 was the seat of the international institute of agriculture that is now FAO or the United Nations Food and Agriculture organisation ; Since 1959 is the seat of the National Council on Economy and Labor or CNEL. Rome tourist office on Villa Lubin: https://www.turismoroma.it/en/node/1736
The Silvano Toti Globe Theater was built identical to Globe theatre of London the most famous of the Elizabethian period, the theatre here was built in 2003. The Globe theater: https://www.globetheatreroma.com/
The Church Santa Maria Immacolata at the piazza di Siena inside Villa Borghese . Built end of 18C for orders of Prince Marcantonio Borghese. Part of the complex of Casina di Raffaello; renovation were done in 1826. The Rome tourist office on the Church Santa Maria Immacolata: https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/chiesa-rettoria-do-santa-croce-alle-scalette-chiesa-di-santa-croce-alla-lungara
The Rome Tourist Office on Villa Borghese park: https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/villa-borghese-park
The Rome Capital Tourist and Cultural Information Center on Villa Borghese : https://060608.comune.roma.it/green-and-sport/giardini-ville-e-parchi-urbani/villa-borghese-3417
The Archeoroma cultural tourist site of Rome on Villa Borghese: https://www.archeoroma.org/sites/villa-borghese/
There you go folks as said a wonderful park in a huge historically renown city of Rome. I told you, it is huge we could not walked all and came back twice to it while there, so many monuments and buildings to see. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the beautiful Villa Borghese of Rome, par I !!! as I.
And , remember for happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
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