Villa Borghese with its 80 hectares is the third largest public park in Rome after Villa Doria Pamphili and Villa Ada.
It is mainly situated in district Pinciano with a small part on the Campo Marzio quarter divided by the Aurelian Walls.
Borghese is the surname of a family of Italian nobleman, who moved from Siena to Rome in the 16th century. At that time the family gained apogeum of strength culminating in the election of the family’s member as the Pope Paul V.
The building ‘Villa Borghese Pinciana’ was designed for Camillo Borghese At the end of 19th century the family’s art collection has been transfered there from Palazzo Borghese – the main building of the family. Now the collection is known as the Galleria Borghese and contains sculptures by Bernini, including the David and Apollo and Daphne, and Antonio Canova (Paolina Borghese) and many paintings by great artists : Titian, Raphael and Caravaggio.
The original sketches were designed by Scipione Borghese, and developed by architect Flaminio Ponzio, after the death of Ponzio the work was completed by John Vasanzio Flemish.
The park surrounding the villa contains several large buildings with expositions, hence the popular name – the ‘park of museums’- ‘Parco dei Musei’.
In the heart of the park in 2003 was inaugurated the Silvano Toti Globe Theater, a reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater from London.
Villa Borghese park is also the host of annual hippic competitions Piazza di Siena with long tradsition – last year it was organised 76th edition.
To the park surrounding the villa lead nine entrances. One of the most popular is Porta Pinciana, another the Trinità dei Monti, and another one leads to Pincio from Piazza del Popolo and monumental entrance to Piazzale Flaminio. The villa is located at the bottom of the Pincio Hill with the park ‘Garden of Pincio’. South of the park offers a well-known panorama of Rome.
Adjacent to Villa Borghese, but today out of the true perimeter of the park, at the foot of the hill, is Villa Giulia, built in 1551 – 1555 as a summer residence for Pope Julius III, which now houses the National Etruscan Museum. Villa Borghese had connections with Villa Medici, home of the French Academy in Rome. Other buildings scattered in the gardens of Villa Borghese, along viale delle Belle Art (Avenue of the Fine Art), were built for the International Exhibition of the Arts held in Rome in 1911 to celebrate the anniversary of fifty years of the unification of Italy. The national gallery of modern art dates from this period as well.
At the northern edge of the park there is Bioparco located there – one of the European oldest zoos recently transformed, and the Museum of Zoology, while the “Casina delle Rose” is now the seat of the House of Cinema. In the nearby of ‘Casina” there is the Cinema dei Piccoli, the smallest cinema in the world.
[photo:courtesy of sabrina campagna]
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