Villa Cetinale is a 17th-century

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

villa and

Italian garden Italian garden (or giardino all'italiana, ) typically refers to a style of gardens, wherever located, reflecting a number of large Italian Renaissance gardens which have survived in something like their original form. In the history of gardenin ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

. The property is located in the hamlet of Cetinale near

Sovicille Sovicille is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Siena in the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is located about south of Florence and approximately southwest of Siena. Sovicille borders the ''comuni'' of Casole d'Elsa, Chiusdino, ...

, about west of

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

, in Tuscany,

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 ...

. The property is best known for the expansive gardens, arrayed in classic symmetry, as well as for its

woodland garden A woodland garden is a garden or section of a garden that includes large trees and is laid out so as to appear as more or less natural woodland, though it is often actually an artificial creation. Typically it includes plantings of flowering shrub ...

History

17th century

The residence was originally a modest building surrounded by farm dwellings, owned by Fabio Chigi (1599–1667). Chigi employed Benedetto Giovannelli, a local architect, to design the plans for a new

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

, whose construction occurred between 1651 and 1655. After Fabio Chigi became

Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII (; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death, in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, and he held various d ...

, in 1655, work came to a halt. In 1676, the villa and lands were inherited by the Pope's nephew, Cardinal Flavio Chigi (1631–1693), Prince of Farnese, Duke of

Ariccia Ariccia (Latin: ''Aricia'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Central Italy, southeast of Rome. It is in the Alban Hills of the Lazio (Latium) region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs. One ...

and Prince of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. Cardinal Chigi employed the architect

Carlo Fontana Carlo Fontana (1634/1638–1714) was an Italian people, Italian"Carlo Fontana."
''Encyclopæ ...

in 1680 to redesign the villa, originally called Villa Chigi, and plan the gardens. Fontana was a former pupil of

Gian Lorenzo Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, ; ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) was an Italians, Italian sculptor and Italian architect, architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prom ...

. His design transformed the villa into the Roman Baroque style. After the death of Cardinal Chigi in 1693 it passed into his family, the Chigi-Zondadari, who retained it into the late 20th century.

20th century

Villa Cetinale, by then in a somewhat ruinous state, was acquired by British aristocrat

Antony Lambton Antony Claud Frederick Lambton (10 July 1922 – 30 December 2006), also known as Lord Lambton or Tony Lambton, was a British aristocrat who served as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1951 to 1973. Styled as Viscount Lambton from 1941 t ...

in 1977. Lambton retired there, following a personal scandal in England. For nearly three decades he meticulously restored the villa and the gardens' built features and plantings. He died in Siena in 2006. It is now available for private rental, with garden tours available by arrangement.

Garden

Main axis

The plan of the Villa Cetinale gardens is in the

Giardino all'italiana Giardino is Italian for ''garden''. It may refer to: * Giardino (album), 2011 album by Finnish krautrock band Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distanc ...

style, with a strong solo primary axis. It begins at the lower terminus far below the house, with a gigantic statue of

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

. The axis extends across natural and landscape, and the midway immediate villa surroundings, to its upper terminus, a hermitage—''Romitorio'' high on the hill above. On axis at the front

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

of the villa is a semi-walled potted

lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

garden, accented with statues by Giuseppe Mazzuoli (1644–1725) and 'Baroque style'

topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...

. On axis at the rear façade a symmetrical double staircase rises to the primary villa entry, at the

piano nobile ( Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ) is the architectural term for the principal floor of a '' palazzo''. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the house ...

('floor one') level, following the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

custom of reserving the ground floor unnumbered for the domestic service uses. Behind the villa an avenue (''allée'') of Italian cypress (''Cupressus sempervirens'') defines the axis through gardens and fields to the base of the hill. A significant and very long stone stairway carries the axis up through the hillside's woodlands, to the focal point of the Romitorio.

Other elements

From beside the villa a secondary axis extends northeast across a

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

d terrace, and through an

olive grove Olive Grove was The Wednesday F.C.'s first permanent football ground, home to the club for just over a decade at the end of the 19th century. It was located on the site of what is now Sheffield City Council's Olive Grove Depot, near Queens Roa ...

to a very tall masonry bell tower, with clock. There are several original non-axial elements of the gardens. Northeast of the main axis beyond the bell tower a garden walkway proceeds around a hill, going through the 'Holy Woods' with stone statues and sculptures of animals, also by Giuseppe Mazuoli. West across the axis a long looping walkway passes through open woods past a series of religious shrines with statues. Olive groves are also part of the landscape surrounding the villa and long axis. The Lambton restoration also developed new off-axis garden terraces and flower gardens beside the villa. ;Publications Villa Cetinale was one of the 70 gardens included by

Edith Wharton Edith Newbold Wharton (; ; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American writer and designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray, realistically, the lives and morals of the Gil ...

in her 1904 book ''Italian Villas and Their Gardens'', with illustrations and a plan of it. The garden is also included in the 1997 book ''Edith Wharton’s Italian Gardens'' by Vivian Russell, and featured on the cover.

In popular culture

The villa features in the season three finale of the TV series ''

Succession Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...

''.

References

External links

Villa Cetinale: website
– ''(English'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Cetinale Villas in the Province of Siena Italian Renaissance gardens Gardens in Tuscany Baroque architecture in Tuscany Buildings and structures in Sovicille Baroque villas in Italy Woodland gardens Renaissance villas in Italy