Villa Vecchia seventeenth century print of Matteo Greuter 1620 img072

Villa Vecchia is a

patrician villa Patricianship, the quality of belonging to a patriciate, began in the ancient world, where cities such as Ancient Rome had a social class of patrician families, whose members were initially the only people allowed to exercise many political fu ...

near Frascati, Italy, in the territory of the commune of Monte Porzio Catone. In the villa's garden there is a long stretch of a well kept

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

. It was founded in 1560 by the cardinal

Giovanni Ricci Giovanni Ricci may refer to: * Giovanni Ricci (American football) * Giovanni Ricci (bishop) (1498–1574), Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal * Giovanni Ricci (politician) (1814-1892), Italian government minister * Giovanni Ricci (mathemat ...

Montepulciano Montepulciano () is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Siena in southern Tuscany. It sits high on a limestone ridge, east of Pienza, southeast of Siena, southeast of Florence, and north of Rome b ...

. Frascati is known for many such villas, such as the famous Villa Mondragone. In 1562 the villa sold to the

Cardinal Ranuccio Farnese Ranuccio Farnese (11 August 1530 – 29 October 1565) was an Italian prelate of the Farnese family , who was Cardinal of Santa Lucia in Selci from 1545 to his death in 1565. Son of Pier Luigi Farnese, the illegitimate son of Pope Paul III, Farn ...

, it was the first residence in Frascati by the Farnese family, with the name Villa Tusculana, and was restored by Vignola for the occasion. Pope Gregory XIII sometimes used it as summer residence. The villa was damaged by air attacks in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

(1943–1944) because it was used as German military depot. The villa now houses a hotel and restaurant.

References

*Wells Clara Louisa - The Alban Hills, Vol. I: Frascati - 1878 publisher: Barbera, Rome, Italy - OCLC 21996251 * *

External links

Villa's official website
Vecchia Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital 1560 establishments in Italy {{Italy-struct-stub