On the Pincian hill, in a garden hidden by an austere building, the tradition of the Medici villas combines with the Roman cult for antiquity. The harmonious Renaissance architecture is reflected in the clean layout of the formal garden transitioning into wild thickets.
In 1574 the powerful Cardinal Ferdinando di Medici bought from Cardinal Ricci di Montepulciano an uncompleted villa located on Rome’s most popular hill, already famous in the Roman era and home to many pleasure palaces affording magnificent views of the city. His dream was interrupted by his return to Florence due to dynastic reasons, but not before one building, by architect Bartolomeo Ammannati, was completed. This construction faces the city with a compact and austere prospect. The back facade, however, is decorated with ancient reliefs and features loggias and porticos opening on a garden set out in three sectors with an ample parterre of geometric flowerbeds, bordered with boxwood, once intended for exquisite flowers surrounding a fountain with an obelisk at the centre. Left of the parterre there are the “quadrati”, square green rooms closed by tall hedges, often bordered with ancient herms; on the opposite side grows a wild thicket, a holm oak wood where originally there had been a ragnaia, a system of nets for catching birds. In the direction of Via Pinciana, the thicket transitions into an artificial hill inspired by Mount Parnassus. Valuable, ancient statues lovingly collected by the cardinal used to adorn the garden; among them was the famous group of Niobids and the Dacian prisoners. The entire collection followed the Cardinal on his return to Florence in 1587, and can be seen in the city’s museums. Only a few copies remain in the gardens of Villa Medici.
Highlights
Mount Parnassus
This small, artificial hill at the edge of the park was inspired by Mount Parnassus, sacred to Apollo and the Muses, and is a frequent feature in Renaissance gardens. Built on the remains of a Roman temple dedicated to the Sun it has a steep, straight flight of steps leading to the top. The hill is covered with concentric circles of numerous holm oaks.
The view
One of the best views of Rome can be enjoyed from Villa Medici. The residential area on one side, and the contrasting green of the Janiculum on the other, dominated by the statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi and by another famous Renaissance residence, Villa Lante.
The Studiolo
A small pavilion at the edge of the park, almost suspended on the Aurelian Walls, contains a painted aviary by painter Jacopo Zucchi: amongst the false trellises covered in flowers, many of which are rare species originally from the Americas, various different birds can be spotted including a turkey, which had also been recently imported from America.