The Villa Falconieri is a villa in

Frascati Frascati () is a city and in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

The villa was originally called Villa Rufina, having been was initially built by Monsignor Alessandro Rufini. Later it was enlarged thanks to Pope

Paul III Pope Paul III (; ; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era follo ...

, dating back to 1546. In 1628

Orazio Falconieri image:Falconieri front.jpg, 300 px, The Villa Falconieri in Frascati; renovations were commissioned by Orazio Falconieri Orazio Falconieri (died 1664) was an Nobility of Italy, Italian nobleman from Florence; he was the owner of the Villa Falconi ...

purchased the villa and commissioned

Francesco Borromini Francesco Borromini (, ), byname of Francesco Castelli (; 25 September 1599 – 2 August 1667), was an Italian architect born in the modern Switzerland, Swiss canton of Ticino

to oversee its renovation. His aim was for him and his brother, Cardinal Lelio Falconieri, to be buried there Important architects worked on the design such as

Antonio da Sangallo the Younger Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (12 April 14843 August 1546), also known as Antonio Cordiani, was an Italian architect active during the Renaissance, mainly in Rome and the Papal States. One of his most popular projects that he worked on des ...

and Borromini. The interior houses frescoes by

Pier Leone Ghezzi Pier Leone Ghezzi (28 June 1674 – 6 March 1755) was an Italian Rococo painter, draughtsman, printmaker and Caricature, caricaturist who was mainly active in Rome. While he painted decorative frescoes and created a new type of anecdotal and r ...

Giacinto Calandrucci Giacinto Calandrucci (Palermo 20 April 1646 – 22 February 1707, Palermo) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Originally from Palermo, he moved to Rome with his fellow Palermitan painter and engraver Pietro del Pò. Like many pain ...

Ciro Ferri Ciro Ferri (1634 – 13 September 1689) was an Italian Baroque sculptor and painter, the chief pupil and successor of Pietro da Cortona. Biography He was born in Rome, where he began working under Cortona and with a team of artists in the extens ...

Niccolò Berrettoni Niccolò Berrettoni (15 December 1637 – February 1682) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Life and work He was born in Macerata Feltria on December 14. 1637. As a child he studied under Simone Cantarini in Pesaro; at the death of t ...

, and others. The park is a splendid Italian garden enlarged in the 17th century, with a small lake bordered by cypresses created in the 18th century.

Modern history

The German writer

Richard Voss Richard Voss (2 September 1851 – 10 June 1918) was a German dramatist and novelist. In standard German orthography, his surname is printed as Voß. Biography Voss was born on 2 September 1851, at Neu-Grape, the son of a country squire. Thou ...

lived here for 25 years and wrote several novels as ''Villa Falconieri'', ''Roman Fever'', ''The Son of Volsca'' and others; he called the Villa as "my shining house". For this reason, Villa Falconieri was always dear to the German community of Rome. In 1905, the Villa was bought by the German banker Ernst von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy of Berlin, a nephew of the composer

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

. In 1907, he gave it as a gift to emperor

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

. On April 6, 1911 the Crown Prince William and Princess Cecilie visited the villa and decided on some restorations. In 1921, the Villa was expropriated by Italian State. Villa Falconieri was damaged by US bombing during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

while being used as the headquarters of Field Marshal

Albert Kesselring Albert Kesselring (30 November 1885 – 16 July 1960) was a German military officer and convicted war crime, war criminal who served in the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. In a career which spanned both world wars, Kesselring reached the ra ...

, but masterly work restored its previous splendor.

Modern use

Since 2016, Villa Falconieri has been the headquarters of the

Accademia Vivarium Novum The Academy Vivarium Novum (or ''Accademia'' in Italian) is a college in Rome. Students can spend one or more years immersed in Latin and Ancient Greek. These languages are spoken both in and outside of the classroom. The Academy Vivarium Nov ...

Latin academy, a cultural center of excellence that has entrusted the decoration of its rooms to an appreciated re-adaptation of classical symbolism, giving the Villa Falconieri an iconographic experience linked to the international vocation of this world campus of

Humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

. Gianni Marilottibr>''Valori e memoria, cominciamo da Palazzo Madama''

Il Manifesto (; English: "the manifesto") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Rome, Italy. While calling itself " communist" and broadly left-wing, it is not connected to any political party A political party is an organization that coordin ...

, 27 April 2022.

References

{{Coord, 41.8072139, 12.6895417, type:landmark_region:IT, format=dms, display=title Falconieri Francesco Borromini buildings Renaissance architecture in Lazio Houses completed in 1546 1546 establishments in the Papal States Gonzaga residences Falconieri