The solid pentagonal structure of this castle-palazzo dominates the village, standing as a visible symbol of the power of the Farnese family over the region. Once inside, splendid frescoed rooms lead to an enchanted garden culminating in the “Palazzina del Piacere” where, in the intimacy reserved for the guests, power leaves space to pleasure.
Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, grandson of Pope Paul III and himself aspiring to become Pope, around the mid-16th century entrusted family architect Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola with the restoration of a pentagonal fortress designed by Antonio da Sangallo: the solid structures of the fortress were converted into the villa’s airy architecture, with its arches, staircases, and terraces built on the bastions. Through the lavish rooms frescoed with episodes celebrating the family history and across the bridges over the moat, we reach two secret quadrangular gardens, closed in by walls and arranged in a fan-like position, connected to the summer and winter apartments. The gardens were divided into sections bordered by evergreens and featured flowers, fruit trees, and were adorned with splendid decors: the Grotta dei Satiri, the Fontana di Venere and the Fontana del Pastore can still be visited. Going up towards the hill, after walking along the path lined with rows of European silver firs, we meet the monumental “catena d’acqua” sculpted cascade water feature, beyond which there is the more intimate “Giardino superiore” originally intended for outdoor dining. Around 1585 the architect Giacomo del Duca built the “Palazzina del Piacere” and a few decades later, where the garden meets the wood, Girolamo Rainaldi added the “Giardino dei fiori” and a scenographic architectural backdrop with water nymphs and unicorns.
Highlights
The "catena d'acqua"
Framed by two small pavilion-loggias with rocky and water features, the “catena d’acqua” sculpted cascade, with its sequence of dolphins marking the medial axis, is flanked by two flights of steps; at the top is the “Fontana del Bicchierone”, a large chalice-shaped basin with two colossal statues of river gods either side. The “Palazzina del Piacere” completes the view.
Hercules’ Salone dei Fasti
The most majestic room in the palazzo is the grand hall with Federico Zuccari’s frescoes. On the ceiling we see Hercules beating the ground with his cudgel making water flow out creating Lake di Vico, while on the walls there are depictions of all the properties of the Farnese family in Lazio and in the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza. In a recess in the wall there is a rustic fountain with mosaics, stuccos, rocks and cherubs pouring water into an ancient yellow marble basin.
The upper gardens
On the level below the Palazzina del Piacere there are two symmetrical gardens, delimited by a series of canephora herms. They are set out in squares with a fountain at the centre and delimited by tall thick boxwood hedges. The staircase on the side of the garden on the right, leading to the upper level, has on its banister another small sculpted cascade with a row of alternating small water basins and dolphins.
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Arte
Miti e mostri
nei giardini dell'
Alto Lazio
In un paesaggio memore dell’antichità etrusca, alcuni celebri giardini del Cinquecento danno voce, nel fitto della vegetazione, a miti e leggende.
