Villa Borghese Gardens

Rome, Italy

Villa Borghese is a landscape garden in the naturalistic English manner in Rome, containing a number of buildings, museums and attractions. The gardens were developed for the Villa Borghese Pinciana, built by the architect Flaminio Ponzio, developing sketches by Scipione Borghese, who used it as a party villa and to house his art collection. The gardens as they are now were remade in the early 19th century.

In 1605, Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V and patron of Bernini, began turning this former vineyard into the most extensive gardens built in Rome since Antiquity. The vineyard's site is identified with the gardens of Lucullus, the most famous in the late Roman republic. In the 19th century much of the garden's former formality was remade as a landscape garden in the English taste. The Villa Borghese gardens were long informally open, but were bought by the commune of Rome and given to the public in 1903. The large landscape park in the English taste contains several villas. The Spanish Steps lead up to this park, and there is another entrance at the Piazza del Popolo. The Pincio in the south part of the park, offers one of the greatest views over Rome.

A balustrade (dating from the early seventeenth century) from the gardens, was taken to England in the late 19th century, and installed in the grounds of Cliveden House, a mansion in Buckinghamshire, in 1896. The Piazza di Siena, located in the villa, hosted the equestrian dressage, individual jumping, and the jumping part of the eventing competition for the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Today the Galleria Borghese is housed in the Villa Borghese itself. It contains an art gallery of paintings for example by Titian, Raphael and Caravaggio. The Villa Giulia adjoining the Villa Borghese gardens was built in 1551 - 1555 as a summer residence for Pope Julius III; now it contains the Etruscan Museum.

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Founded: 1605
Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in Italy

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

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User Reviews

Wendy Donkoh (14 months ago)
Gorgeous park in the city, with a cute small artificial lake, where is possible to rent a roaring boat. Around the park you will find quite few bar and truck for a simple break. During sunny days, I recommend a picnic or simply laying on the grass and enjoy the surroundings
Εfthymios Chrysanthopoulos (15 months ago)
Exceptional park inner of Rome, with lots of facilities and services. Large parks with greenery have positive impact on the city. Villa Borghese park boasts a beautiful artificial lake which you can cross with a boat. Inside the park there is a coffee shop and you have the opportunity to watch several artistic performances or to exercise in various ways.
Steve P (2 years ago)
The grounds are very nice. A shady stroll through many paths transecting this vastly green place. Often times where the paths cross there is either a fountain or a statue placed in there. I'm sure a long way from its botanical origins I didn't see any large collection of flowers but it's already the beginning of Fall season. A man made lake a short distance from a cafe within the grounds provides a calming visual field where one can rent paddle boats. Don't miss the Museum of Modern Art a short distance away.
Chris Dodd (2 years ago)
We decided to stop by this park on our last evening in Rome and I am glad we did. Although we weren't going to look for a specific thing we had a great time just getting lost in the park. There were plenty of cool statues to see and views of the city. You can even rent multiple modes of transportation if you want to so you can get around easier, but the whole park is very walkable since that is what we did. In a city packed with tons of cool things to see and do, this park is a good break from it all. Everyone should check it out when they're in Rome.
ajay kumar (2 years ago)
A very big villa. A very good place to spend time with kids. Tricycles are available on rent. There is a zoo on the one side of the Villa. In addition, there is boating facility. So, families can enjoy the whole day here.
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