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In questa pagina:
Villa
Aldobrandini (o Belvedere o Pamphilj)
Villa
Lancellotti
Villa
Falconieri
Nella prossima pagina: Villa
Mondragone, Villa Parisi, Villa Grazioli, Villa Torlonia and other villas.
The villas of Frascati were all built in a relatively short time
frame from 1550 to 1620, although some of them were modified later on.
In 1550 a monsignor Ruffini selected a spot above Frascati for his
villa and he was followed by the most important Roman families: Altemps,
Aldobrandini (Clemens VIII), Boncompagni (Gregorius XIII), Montalto
(Sixtus V), Borghese (Paulus V), Colonna all rushed to build or buy a
villa in Frascati. Today some of the villas belong to the municipalities
of Grottaferrata or Monte Porzio Catone, but in line with the traditional
approach they are all discussed in this page.
1620 engraving showing the villas of
Frascati
The villas soon became an addition to the
monuments of modern Rome and were portrayed in paintings and engravings.
In general all the villas were façing Rome so that the guests could see
the Roman campagna, the ruins of the aqueducts and in the distance Rome,
signalled by the dome of St. Peter's.
Villa Aldobrandini
Villa
Aldobrandini
Villa Aldobrandini was built at the beginning
of the XVIIth century and it was designed by Giacomo della Porta and Carlo
Maderno. It is a very imposing building, its size being emphasized by the
terraces upon which it rests and it is clearly visible from Rome.
Veduta di Villa Aldobrandini (sotto
la linea rossa) da S. Pietro
in Montorio; in primo piano S.
Sabina
Villa Aldobrandini is not however a casino
with many rooms because it does not have an inner courtyard: there are
only "rooms with a view" either towards Rome or towards the cascades and
the fountains behind the casino. It was used in summer and the landlords
and their guests spent the day and the evening in the gardens and not
indoors.
Fountains in Villa
Aldobrandini
The design of the fountains attracted a
lot of attention: they had to please both the eye and the ear and the
cascades of Villa Aldobrandini were renowned because they activated some
musical instruments held by statues portrayed in the act of playing them.
The complex of fountains, niches, statues was called Teatro delle
Acque (Water Theatre). In addition to the cascades, Villa Aldobrandini
has both very elegant and formal fountains and more surprising "monstruos"
fountains hidden in the rocks of the park. As the painter Federico Zuccari
contributed to the decoration of the casino, maybe he suggested these
strange faces which are very similar to those which decorate the windows
of his own
palace in Rome. Other views of Villa Aldobrandini can be seen in a page dedicated
to pope Clemens VIII Aldobrandini. The image used as a background for
this page shows a detail of the XVIIIth century decoration at the entrance
of Villa Aldobrandini (an iron lily designed by Gabriele Valvassori).
Villa Lancellotti
Villa Lancellotti
Villa Lancellotti is also known as Villa Piccolomini as it
belonged to this family for more than two hundred years. The façade of the
casino shows a simple late Renaissance design, while its central part was
modified in the XVIIth century. Unlike most of the other villas it is not
surrounded by a large garden, but what its garden lacks in size, it has in
elegance.
Teatro delle Acque di Villa
Lancellotti
Villa Falconieri
Gates of Villa Falconieri
At the beginning of the XVIIth century Cardinal Scipione
Borghese planned to open a new road which would link Rome with his
possessions near Frascati. The road was never completed but the gate at
its Frascati end (Portale delle Armi, which is shown in the pagina successiva) became a
benchmark for the gates of the other villas.
In 1733 cardinal
Alessandro Falconieri thought to give to his villa an entrance (image on
the left) comparable with Portale delle Armi, but in the years
during which the property did not care about the villa a tree blocked the
alley leading to the casino. The image on the right shows the already
existing gates of Villa Falconieri.
Villa Falconieri
The
casino was initially built by monsignor Ruffini in 1549 and thus it is
also called Villa la Rufina. It was acquired by the Falconieri in 1628 and
the casino was entirely rebuilt in the late 1660s. In general its design
is attributed to Francesco Borromini who worked for the Falconieri. The
casino was recently repainted with light blue colours.
Excerpts
from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:
Tusculo antico oggi Frascati cittàDodici miglia
lungi da Roma, camminando per la strada fuori della porta s.
Giovanni, fu quell'insigne città, fabbricata sull'eminente
collina da Telegone figliuolo di Ulisse e di Circe per collocarvi la
sua regia. Prese un tal nome forse da' Toscani, che l'ingrandirono,
o da Greci, che ve lo imposero per la difficoltà del salirvi; e fu
di tal maniera forte, che in essa ricoverossi Tarquinio Superbo
ultimo Re discacciato, da' Romani; donde nacque poi la fierissima
guerra tra' Latini, e i Romani, e non cessò fin a tanto, che quella
città non rimanesse spianata fino al suolo con tutte le sue
magnificenze. Non per questo fu dipoi abbandonata, anzi più gloriosa
risorse per opera de' medesimi Romani, i quali la illustrarono con
magnificenze più insigni, vedendosi in quell'angolo del colle verso
tramontana le diroccate mura; ed il famoso Tusculo di M. Cicerone,
in cui aveva aperta per suo trattenimento letterario una accademia,
che fu la più fiorita di tutta l'Europa, concorrendovi tutti i
maggiori letterati di Roma e del Mondo ancora: onde Tusculane si
dissero quelle questioni e quesiti, che in un picciolo, ma prezioso
volume si gode, formato in quelle delizie dal Principe della Romana
eloquenza. In quell'altra parte del colle verso Oriente fu la famosa
villa di Lucullo, e dove si vedano sparse a mucchi le pietre su il
vecchio sepolcro de' Furj, e la regia di Tarquinio suddetto.
Mutò nome e sito quell'insigne città circa l'anno 1191. quando
nuovamente distrutta da Romani per le insolenze usate colla Sede
Apostolica da' suoi cittadini, i quali poi non sapendo dove
ricoverarsi scesero nel basso incontro a Roma costruendo diverse
casette e capanne di legno coperte di rami, di frondi, e frasche,
dalle quali la nuova città prese il none rurale di Frascati. Dipoi
riconosciuta la salubrità dell'aria, e l'amenità del sito, principiò
la nobiltà Romana a farci le sue villeggiature: perciò vi furono
erette de' magnifici casini, e maravigliose ville con deliziosissime
fontane, e viali amenissimi, fra le quali tiene il primo luogo
quella di Belvedere
posta dinanzi alla porta di questa città, e quella di Mondragone
eretta da Paolo V. Borghese; dipoi la Taverna, la Conti, la Rufina,
la Boncompagni, la Odescalchi ed altre, che con più facilità
riuscirà il vederle, che con brevità quì descriverle:
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