When I was a younger art historian, I was fortunate to live on the Janiculum hill in Rome for a long period, at the American Academy in Rome. Nearby was some of the most incredible urban parkland I had ever seen and my friend and I spent a lot of time enjoying the extensive grounds and manicured gardens. Only later did I realize what a magnificent jewel of historical significance that this place, the Villa Doria Pamphili, truly was. I’d like to share some of it with you now.
This historic villa includes the 3rd largest public park in Rome (180 hectares), located just outside the walls in the Gianicolense district on the western slopes of the Janiculum Hill. Today it is the largest landscaped public park in the city and very much worth at least one if not many visits in a lifetime.
Inside stands the architectural jewel of the villa, the Casino del Bel Respiro, or Algardi, which now serves as an official seat of the Italian government.
This villa was constructed as the country estate of the Pamphili family, designed in the 17th century from the fusion of several pre-existing vineyards. Nobleman Panfilo Pamphili purchased the property then known as the Villa Vecchia in 1630. This part of the city was known as a Bel Respiro, or beautiful breath, due to its location on a hill above the lower areas of Rome which were prone to malaria. This location on higher ground also meant that the views were impressive – one of the most desirable features for the location of a villa at any time or place.
Another member of the family, Cardinal Giambattista Pamphili, was elected pope in 1644 and took the name Pope Innocent X. With his rise to power, his family wanted a grander and more luxurious villa on the site of the land they had purchased, which was very handily located near the Vatican. This had to make Innocent X the most fortunate of all the popes in this regard at least.
Portrait of Innocent X, by Diego Velázquez (1650, Galleria Doria Pamphili, Rome)
And thus, between 1644 and 1652, while the Pamphili family was gaining prestige thanks to Innocent X’s pontificate, a Villa Nuova was planned. Designs were drawn up and the project was finally given to the Bolognese sculptor, Alessandro Algardi, who was assisted by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi, architect and artist.
Construction on the above-mentioned central casino, or small country house, began in 1645. It featured a central, circular room with other chambers leading off from it. It was completed just two years later in 1647 and is often referred to as the Casino del Bel Respiro. It was needed to exhibit the family’s opulent collection of sculptures that had been sourced from the ancient and contemporary art world; this also included sarcophagi, vases, and other items of antiquity.
In fact, the casino was been used almost entirely as a gallery to host this private collection. The family and guests would stay elsewhere, in the older Vecchia Vigna.
Its design was somewhat more Mannerist than Baroque, but above all classicized to refer back to structures of the past – such as at Villa Medici – in an attempt to cement a longstanding legacy of the Pamphili family in antiquity.
The surrounding gardens were designed by the nephew of Pope Innocent X, Camillo Pamphili, in 1650. He created a formal design with clipped hedges in geometric patterns, neat woodlands, and a rusticated grotto. Fountains pooled into a canal that ran through the property; this was a reminder for sophisticated viewers of the Canopus at Hadrian’s Villa, and yet another attempt to connect the Pamphili family to the opulence and power of Imperial Rome.
The fountains adorning its gardens, were built by some of the greatest artists of the time, such as Alessandro Algardi, Giovan Francesco Grimaldi, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
The lower land on the south side of the building became the Giardino Segreto or secret garden. This terrace is only visible from the casino and the upper terraces, and was planted with orange trees, lawns and clipped hedges.
Although the Pamphili family attempted to seal their own legacy through the architecture and gardens of the villa, the last male member of the family, Girolamo Pamphili, died in 1760 and left no male heirs. The loss of the family line led to disputes as to who might be the possible heir to the estate.
It was finally settled in 1763 when Prince Giovanni Andrea IV Doria was granted the right to take the surname, the coat of arms and the properties of the Pamphili family by order of Pope Clement XIII. This story is so reminiscent of the Medici family in Florence.
His claim was based on a marriage between his predecessor, Prince Giovanni Andrea III Doria, and Anna Pamphili. From that moment on, the villa was called, as it still is today, the Villa Doria Pamphili.
This latter half of the 18th century ushered in a continuation of developments for the villa’s landscaped gardens. A number of features were added throughout this period. Fountains and gateways attributed to Gabriele Valvassori among others.
Thus, the Villa Doria Pamphili took on the full aspect of a sumptuous noble country residence.
Despite the peaceful intent for and experience of the villa grounds, in 1849 during the Siege of Rome, the villa was the scene of one of the bloodiest battles for the defect of the Roman Republic. On June 2 the French troops occupied the nearby Villa Corsini and the next day Garibaldii’s trooped tried in vain to reconquer it.
In 1856 the villa was enlarged by Prince Andrea V Doria Pamphilj who acquired and added Villa Corsini at Porta San Pancrazio.
Among the works carried out in the second half of the 19th century are the Arco dei Quattro Venti, the monumental entrance to the villa, the restoration of the Corsini Palace, the Greenhouses, and the Monument to the French Fallen.
In 1957, the Italian State expropriated the villa and divided it in two in 1960 for the opening of Via Leone VIII. In 1972, the park was opened to the public.
Antiquities: While the 17th-century estate was designed as a modern Baroque escape, Villa Doria Pamphili sits directly atop an extensive ancient Roman necropolis and the ancient Via Aurelia Antica. As a result, numerous parts of the villa still preserve important evidence of the Roman and medieval ages: the northern boundary along the Via Aurelia Antica partly coincides with the Trajan-Paul aqueduct structures.
When the Pamphili family excavated the grounds in the 1820s and 1830s to build their gardens, and later during modern municipal work, a massive subterranean world was uncovered. Important funerary structures from the Roman period have been found in numerous areas of the park (particularly important those brought to light at the Casino del Bel Respiro). The Casale di Giovio preserves fine Imperial age masonry examples and a decorated early medieval architrave.
While one hopes the best art was conserved and moved into modern museums such as at the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, physical architectural traces remain visible to park visitors today.
For example, you can see visible masonry and stone wall remnants of the necropolis and some tombs near the park borders along the Via Aurelia Antica. Portions of the ancient Roman Aqua Traiana, originally built in 109 AD to brink water from Lake Bracciano, man across parts of the estate. Deep in the western half of the park, the medieval farmhouse known as Casale di Giovio was built directly on top of a small square ancient Roman funerary temple.
If you are interested, you can find many videos about the Villa on Youtube. The Galleria of the Palazzo Doria Pamphili is altogether a different place and location within Rome, for it was the city home of the illustrious family. I will be be visiting this Galleria for the first time in a few weeks and hope to be back here soon to tell you all about it!
