Villa Sciarra is a park in

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 ...

named for the villa at its centre. It is located between the neighborhoods of

Trastevere Trastevere () is the 13th '' rione'' of Rome: it is identified by the initials R. XIII and it is located within Municipio I. Its name comes from Latin ''trans Tiberim'', literally 'beyond the Tiber'. Its coat of arms depicts a golden head of a li ...

Gianicolo The Janiculum (; it, Gianicolo ), occasionally the Janiculan Hill, is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although it is the second-tallest hill (the tallest being Monte Mario) in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among ...

and Monteverde Vecchio. __NOTOC__

Location

The best approach is from Viale Trastevere. At the Ministry of Education turn onto Via E. Morosini, then take the first left (Via Dandolo) to make the climb and turn left at Via Calandrelli. In Via Calandrelli there are two entrances which are the first giving on to Piazzale Wurts, designed by Pio Piacentini and the second at Largo E. Mintilli.

History

In 1653 Cardinal

Antonio Barberini Antonio Barberini (5 August 1607 – 3 August 1671) was an Italian Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts and a prominent member of the House of Barberini. As one of the cardinal-nephews of Pope Urban VIII ...

bought most of the land within the Janiculum walls between Porta Portese and

Porta San Pancrazio Porta San Pancrazio is one of the southern gates of the Aurelian walls in Rome, Italy. The gate houses the National Association of Garibaldi Veterans and Survivors along with the Garibaldi Museum (also dedicated to the Italian Partisan Division ...

to build an estate mainly used as a farm. In 1811 the property was acquired by the Colonna di Sciarra, who gave the villa its current name and enlarged it by acquiring the land belonging to Monastero di San Cosimato. In the 1880s Prince Maffeo Sciarra Colonna went bankrupt and the estate was split and a large part of it became a residential area. The last owners,

George Washington Wurts George Washington Wurts (1843 in Philadelphia – January 25, 1928 in Rome) was an American diplomat and art collector. Early life George Washington Wurts was one of eight children of William Wurts of Trenton, New Jersey. William Wurts, who with ...

and his wife

Henrietta Tower Henrietta Tower (''Henriette'', ''Enrichetta'') (26 October 1856 – 3 April 1933) was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. While living in Rome, she and her husband, George Washington Wurts, created an art collection containing approximately 3,000 wo ...

, who was the sister of

Charlemagne Tower Charlemagne Tower (April 18, 1809 – July 25, 1889''New York Times,'' July 26, 1889, page 4.) was an American lawyer and businessman active in acquiring land in the Schuylkill Valley in Pennsylvania and serving as an officer for coal and railr ...

, established the remaining land as a

botanic garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

and

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages. Avi ...

complex embellished with an original sculptural decoration coming from an 18th-century Lombard villa near

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

. The park was given to

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

by the widowed Henrietta in 1932 on condition it became a public park.

References

*A. Pacia, R. Piccininni, Villa Sciarra. ''Interpretazione romana di una villa lombarda'', Roma 1992 *C. Benocci, ''Le ville storiche della Via Aurelia Antica e dell'area sud-occidentale della città'', in R.C. Benocci, ''Villa Sciarra: dal mecenatismo americano degli anni Trenta all'ipotesi comunale di musealizzazione'', in "Bollettino dei Musei Comunali di Roma", n.s., XII, 1998, pp. 123–147 *A. Campitelli, Villa Sciarra, in V. Cazzato (a cura), ''La memoria, il tempo, la storia nel giardino italiano fra '800 e '900'', Roma 2000, pp. 374–376.

External links

PersonaleComune di Roma
{{coord, 41.8835, N, 12.4649, E, source:wikidata, display=title Parks in Rome Rome R. XIII Trastevere