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 Villa
Aldobrandini
The
first villa that we meet coming from Rome is the villa Aldobrandini,
the most important in Frascati, called also Belvedere for its panoramic
position: Goethe, who was a guest here, declares that "rarely
a villa could find a better position". The villa was built
up in the 1550 by Alexander Rufini, reconstructed by Giacomo
della Porta in 1598 commissioned by Clement VIII who meant to give it
to his grandson Peter Aldobrandini, his favourite nephew.
The inner
decorations are works of important artists of the time such as
the Zuccari brothers, Cavalier d' Arpino, Passignano and Domenichino.
Famous is the rustic and monumental Theatre of Waters, work of
Carl Maderno and Orazio Olivieri, architect who had worked for
the gorgeous Fountains of Villa D’Este in Tivoli.
Villa Rufina
Falconieri
Built in 1548 by monsignor Alexander Rufini, it passed
then to several Roman families when in 1628 it was acquired by
the Falconieri family that commissioned the restoration to the
brilliant architect Francisco Borromini. The interiors were subsequently
decorated by Pier Ghezzi Lion and Carl Maratta. The villa was for
a while property of the composer Felix J. L. Mendelssohn (1809-47).Today
is center of the European Center of the Education that gives authorization
for visits (tel. 06-941851).
Villa Torlonia
The original nucleus
of the villa was built by wishes of the poet Annibal Caro (1507-1566)
but it was transformed in a gorgeous palace by cardinal Scipione
Borghese who engaged Carl Maderno and Giovanni Fontana. It passed
to different families, was then bought by the Torlonia family and
unfortunately destroyed during the bombing of the Second World
War. The garden that survived with the famous "Theatre of
Waters" by Carl Maderno is today a public park.
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