The Villa Celimontana (previously known as Villa Mattei) is a villa on the Caelian Hill in Rome, best known for its gardens. Its grounds cover most of the valley between the

Aventine Hill The Aventine Hill (; la, Collis Aventinus; it, Aventino ) is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the modern twelfth ''rione'', or ward, of Rome. Location and boundaries The Aventine Hill is the sou ...

and the Caelian.

Location

The Villa Celimontana is situated on the summit of the

Celian Hill The Caelian Hill (; la, Collis Caelius; it, Celio ) is one of the famous seven hills of Rome. Geography The Caelian Hill is a sort of long promontory about long, to wide, and tall in the park near the Temple of Claudius. The hill over ...

in the south-east of Rome in the Rione Celio. The principal entrance is near the Piazza della Navicella, beside the Basilica

Santa Maria in Domnica The Minor Basilica of St. Mary in Domnica alla Navicella (Basilica Minore di Santa Maria in Domnica alla Navicella), or simply Santa Maria in Domnica or Santa Maria alla Navicella, is a Roman Catholic basilica in Rome, Italy, dedicated to the Bless ...

. A secondary entrance is situated on the Clivo di Scauro near the Basilica Santi Giovanni e Paolo. The park is a continuation of

Baths of Caracalla The Baths of Caracalla ( it, Terme di Caracalla) in Rome, Italy, were the city's second largest Ancient Rome, Roman public baths, or ''thermae'', after the Baths of Diocletian. The baths were likely built between AD 212 (or 211) and 216/217, durin ...

Site

Tradition holds that

Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions are a ...

met the nymph Egeria on the site, and within the grounds of the present villa, to the left of the present entrance from piazza della Navicella, was the base of the 5th cohort of the Vigiles - these

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

ic-era remains were excavated in 1820, 1931 and 1958. In the mid-16th century the site of the grounds was occupied by a vineyard belonging to the Paluzzelli family, near

. That family ordered excavations there which found the coloured marbles (probably from a temple) which were re-used in Sangallo's Sala Regia at the Vatican.

Villa

In 1553 the vineyard was acquired for 1000 gold

scudi The ''scudo'' (pl. ''scudi'') was the name for a number of coins used in various states in the Italian peninsula until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the Spanish and Portuguese escudo, was derived from the Latin ''scu ...

by Giacomo Mattei (who also built the 15th century building in piazza Mattei), but it was

Ciriaco Mattei Ciriaco Mattei (died 1614) was an Italian nobleman of Rome and of the House of Mattei and one of the most prolific art collectors of his time. Family Mattei was the son of Alessandro Mattei and Emilia Mazzatosta. He was the brother of Cardinal G ...

who transformed it into a villa in 1580, instructing the architect

Giacomo Del Duca Giacomo Del Duca (c. 1520 – 1604) was an Italian sculptor and architect during the late-Renaissance or Mannerist period. He is most remembered for assisting Michelangelo in a number of projects in Rome, including the sculpture and construction ...

(a student of

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

) to build the villa and the first garden scheme. The original villa has been much adapted, but was probably a single-floor structure with a portico along its facade, topped by a Doric frieze and balustrade which still survive. It now has a quadrangular plan with two low wings and a piazza on an artificial platform supported by large ancient walls (largely

Flavian Flavian may refer to: * A member of the Flavian dynasty of Roman emperors, during the late 1st century AD, or their works * Flavian Zeija, a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge. Principal Judge of Uganda, since December 2019. * A person named Flavian ...

and still visible from the south side). Villa Celimontana

The Mattei collections began to be gutted in 1770 with the sale of 10 statues to the Vatican (including the ''

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

'', ''Pudicitia'', and ''seated Trajan'', all now at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

) and in 1802 with the head of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

(still in the Vatican). The villa, however, remained in the Mattei family until sold by them 1802. The villa then changed hands rapidly - in 1813 it was acquired by prince

Manuel de Godoy Manuel Godoy y Álvarez de Faria, Prince of the Peace, 1st Duke of Alcudia, 1st Duke of Sueca, 1st Baron of Mascalbó (12 May 17674 October 1851) was First Secretary of State of Spain from 1792 to 1797 and from 1801 to 1808. He received many t ...

, prince of La Paz and minister of

Charles IV of Spain , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles III of Spain , mother =Maria Amalia of Saxony , birth_date =11 November 1748 , birth_place =Palace of Portici, Portici, Naples , death_date = , death_place = ...

. The villa was then taken over by

Princess Marianne of the Netherlands Princess Marianne of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau (''Wilhelmina Frederika Louise Charlotte Marianne''; 9 May 1810 – 29 May 1883) was the youngest child of King William I of the Netherlands and Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia. P ...

(daughter of

William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik, Prince of Orange-Nassau; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was a Prince of Orange, the King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. He was the son of the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, who we ...

), then by Frederica (princess of Prussia and of

Bauffremont The House of Bauffremont is the name of a French noble family of Princes which derived its name from a village in the Vosges, outside of Neufchâteau, now spelt Beaufremont. The family traces itself to Liébaud, sire de Bauffremont, in 1090. T ...

) in 1857, and finally by the Bavarian baron Richard Hoffman in 1869. In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the Italian State confiscated the villa as the property of an enemy national, and in 1923 the most important sculptures in the gardens were moved to the Museo Nazionale Romano. In 1926 the villa was given to the

Società Geografica Italiana The Società Geografica Italiana formed as a geographic society in 1867 in Florence, Italy, and moved to Rome in 1872. As of 1924 it operated from headquarters in Villa Mattei in the Celio rione. The society began publishing a journal in 1868, a ...

Gardens

In the gardens were displayed artworks from the Mattei collection. In 1552

Filippo Neri Philip Romolo Neri ( ; it, italics=no, Filippo Romolo Neri, ; 22 July 151526 May 1595), known as the "Second Apostle of Rome", after Saint Peter, was an Italian priest noted for founding a society of secular clergy called the Congregation of t ...

instituted the ceremony of Visiting the Seven Churches ( San Pietro,

San Giovanni in Laterano The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...

Santa Maria Maggiore The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...

, San Paolo fuori le mura, San Lorenzo fuori le mura,

San Sebastiano all'Appia Antica San Sebastiano fuori le mura (Saint Sebastian beyond the Walls), or San Sebastiano ''ad Catacumbas'' (Saint Sebastian at the Catacombs), is a Basilicas in the Catholic Church#Minor basilicas, Minor basilica in Rome, Central Italy. Up to the Great ...

and

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem or Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, ( la, Basilica Sanctae Crucis in Hierusalem) is a Catholic Minor basilica and titular church in rione Esquilino, Rome, Italy. It is one of the Seven Pilgrim ...

) and the Mattei family opened their villa's grounds for pilgrims to rest in and provided them with bread, wine, cheese, eggs, apples and salami. The gardens were later redefined by Giovanni Fontana and

Domenico Fontana Domenico Fontana (154328 June 1607) was an Italian architect of the late Renaissance, born in today's Ticino. He worked primarily in Italy, at Rome and Naples. Biography He was born at Melide, a village on the Lake Lugano, at that time joint p ...

, in a scheme including the obelisk. The gardens were also famous for their fountains, realised by

Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, , ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 159828 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his ...

for Girolamo Mattei - they included the fontana dell'Aquila (after the Mattei's heraldic emblem of the eagle) and fontana del Tritone, and have now all been relocated to the piazza dei SS.Giovanni e Paolo. (Girolamo is also mentioned in the inscription before Santi Giovanni e Paolo relating to its 1651 restoration.) In 1926 the villa gardens were granted by the state to the Commune of Rome as a public park. The park's current entrance-gate - in bugnata work, dating to the early 17th century and designed by

Carlo Lambardi Carlo Lambardi or Lombardi (1559 – 1620) was an Italian architect of the late-Renaissance and early- Baroque period, active mainly in Rome. He was born in Arezzo. He labored on the Palazzo Aldobrandini in the Quirinal district, the facade of S ...

- was formerly the main entrance to Villa Giustiniani before being moved to the present site in 1931. To its left is the obelisk, at the end of the central route.

Obelisk

The obelisk is a small example given to the Mattei in 1582. Its lower part is made up of parts of several obelisks and is of unknown origin, but the top part (2.68m high) has hieroglyphics of

Ramesses II Ramesses II ( egy, wikt:rꜥ-ms-sw, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is oft ...

, derives from the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, and was (like those now in piazza della Minerva and via delle Terme di Diocleziano) brought to Rome in antiquity to adorn the Temple of Isis in Campidoglio. In the 14th century it was placed on the steps of the Campidoglio - legend holds that the globe placed on its tip held the ashes of

and that the obelisk was raised on the Campidoglio by Cola di Rienzo as a symbol of Roman liberty. It was presented to Ciriaco Mattei in 1582 by the Senate of Rome and moved to the park in 1587 as the centrepiece of the villa's theatre. Manuel de Godoy had the obelisk moved to its present position at the end of the central route by the Spanish architect

Antonio Celles Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

in 1817. It was on this occasion that it was placed on its present 16th century base, consisting of 4 lions. In the works a support broke and worker had his hand and part of his arm trapped under the obelisk (where they still remain) - they had to be removed in an emergency amputation.

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