The Villa Rosebery is one of the three official residences of the

President of Italy The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian poli ...

(the other two being the

Quirinal Palace The Quirinal Palace ( it, Palazzo del Quirinale ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, one of the three current official residences of the president of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporzia ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and the Castelporziano country retreat outside Rome). The villa grounds cover 6.6 hectares (16.3 acres). Villa Rosebery is situated in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and it is so named because it was owned by the

British prime minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As moder ...

, the

5th Earl of Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of ...

(Liberal, 1894–1895).

History

Originally built as a cottage in the grounds of the Belvedere (now the Palazzina Borbonica) in 1801 by Count Thurn, an Austrian officer in the service of the King of Naples. The original building was rebuilt under the ownership of Don Agostino Serra Terranova in the mid 19th century as the Casino Gaudiosa, achieving much of its current form. Sold after Don Agostino's death in 1857, the villa came into the ownership of Prince Luigi, Count of Aquila, the commander of the Neapolitan Navy, who renamed the property La Brasiliana in honour of his sister's husband, the emperor Pedro II of Brazil. Following

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pat ...

's revolution the villa was sold in 1860 to a businessman, Gustavo Delahente, who in turn sold it to

Lord Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of ...

, the former

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

, in 1897. In 1909 Lord Rosebery presented the building to the British Government for the use of the British Ambassador to Italy. Chap. VI. In 1932 the British Government in turn presented the building to the Italian State and the villa was used as a summer royal residence. From June 1944 until his abdication and exile in May 1946, the villa was the residence of

King Victor Emmanuel III King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. From 1946 to 1949 it was used by the Accademia Aeronautica, and after a period of dis-use it became an official residence of the President of the Italian Republic in 1957.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosebery, Villa Royal residences in the Kingdom of Naples Villas in Naples Official residences in Italy Presidential residences Royal residences in Italy