Villa Farnesina garden

The suburban villa of the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi, known as the "Magnificent" (1466-1520), a significant example of Renaissance culture, corresponded to the owner's taste for owning a residence far from the clamor of the city, surrounded by greenery. In the sixteenth century the Villa was surrounded by a wonderful viridarium (garden) whose composition was harmoniously connected with the same architectural forms of the villa through the two lateral avant-corps of the façade of the building, with the festive floral decorations of the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche, the work of Giovanni da Udine. The extraordinary representations of plants from the New World, such as corn, courgettes, pumpkins, the common bean, medicinal plants, fruit plants, but also ornamental and exotic species were painted with the intention of surprising and arousing the admiration of the visitor and to show the guests, dignitaries of the papal court, and the pontiff himself, the sumptuousness and refinement of the owner Chigi.

Today only a small strip of the northern part of the garden remains, while at the back of the Villa (south side, where the entrance is now) you can access the "secret garden" inspired by the sixteenth-century hortus conclusus, separated by a high hedge from the "representation garden". The latter extends to the south as far as a stretch of the Aurelian Walls which constitutes one of the few remains of the city walls that stood on the right bank of the Tiber, the side of which facing the river was lost in the renovation works at the end of the 19th century.
After a careful restoration intervention, arboreal specimens were planted again according to the nineteenth-twentieth century layout: pines and some cypresses, the laurel grove - which constitutes, perhaps, the most ancient pre-existence - useful and ornamental species (roses, quinces, medlars, Farnese acacia, Constantinople acacia, collectible citrus trees, cherry trees, holm oaks, ancient camellias), some shrub species mentioned in documents archive, such as Myrtus communis, Cornus mas, Berberis, as well as perennial and bulbous herbaceous plants such as Viola odorata in ancient varieties, Lilium, Hyacinthus and Iris which make up the variegated and colorful band along the ancient Farnesian wall.

A set of archaeological finds, such as sarcophagi, capitals and statues used as decorative elements, contributes to testifying to the ancient magnificence of the garden.

In the villa today there is the representative office of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.

Photo: turismoroma