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The park of Villa Mattei Celimontana is located in Rome. The garden, built in the sixteenth century, has been open to the public since 1928, while its main has hosted the Italian Geographic Society since 1926 (founded in Florence, in 1867).

In the first half of the sixteenth century, the area was a vineyard of the Paluzzelli family, who carried out excavations leading to precious colored marbles; they were attributed to an ancient temple, then used for the “Sala Regia” of the Vatican.

In 1553, Giacomo Mattei purchased the vineyard, and in 1580 Ciriaco Mattei tasked architect Giacomo Del Duca – Michelangelo’s disciple – with the construction of the building and its surrounding garden with Renaissance taste. The villa reached its maximum splendor in the mid-1600s, when Duke Girolamo expanded the northern side, inserting some fountains, two of which were designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Only two early 17th century fountains remain from that period (Fontana del Fiume, and Fontana del Mostro Marino), an Egyptian obelisk and the aviary nymph garden.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, Spanish prince Manuel, the owner from 1813 to 1836, transformed the Renaissance garden into an English park, with large trees such as pines, cedars of Lebanon, Mediterranean dwarf palms (Chamaerops), fan palms (Trachycarpus), holm oaks, laurels, oleanders, bitter orange trees (Citrus x aurantium), and boxwoods. Many water basins and shady corners, replaced fountains and other structures.
Later on, other foreign owners made further modifications, including a neo-Gothic temple.

In 1921, the villa, with a square plan, (on two floors today), and the park were purchased by the Italian state. The latter opened to the public in 1928.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)