Villa Borghese Park
The Villa Borghese Park in Rome is a beautiful place to simply stroll from your Rome apartment and watch the people in the park go by, and take in the beauty of the park. If your Rome apartment is close to the Spanish Steps, or not far from them, then after simply climbing the Spanish Steps the park can be entered in just a short walk away, at any time. The Villa Borghese Park, although in the heart of Rome, covers a large area of the city. Through-out the city there are many Rome apartments not far from the park. The Park has villas, sculptures, fountains and monuments created by many famous and important artists from different periods and styles such as Baroque, Eclectic and Neoclassical. The Villa Borghese Park contains lakes, manicured gardens, and wooded areas. It's a beautiful marriage between nature and art.
Back in 1605, the nephew of Pope Paul V, Cardinal Scipione Borghese started the transformation of the area from a vineyard to a beautiful Park said to be influenced by English gardens.
The Park contains several villas noted below:
The Galleria Borghese is an art gallery housing the Borghese Collection of sculpture and paintings including works by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Caravaggio and Raphael. This is wonderful place to spend a few hours when staying in Rome apartments.
Originally the summer residence of Pop Julius III the Villa Giulia, built 1550 to 1555, is now the Etruscan Museum. The museum holds collections of ceramic, bronze, and jewellery. A notable piece is the sarcophagus of the Bride and Groom from Cerveteri dating from the sixth century BC and also form this century the statue of Apollo originally from Veio. If you are interested in Tuscany then this will give a new insight when renting Rome apartments.
The French Academy in Rome is located in the Villa Medici housed there since 1803.
In 1911 the World Exposition was held in Rome and several other villas were built to house various exhibits:
The Galleria d'Arte Moderna has collections of 19th and 20th century Italian paintings. There are works also by Van Gogh, Courbet, Cezanne and Degas. When renting Rome apartments this is the place to see the modern great patinters.
The English Pavilion now is home to the British School of Rome.
There are 15 beautiful fountains in the Park, including the Fontana dei Mascheroni, the Fountain of Masks, consisting of four masks and four tritons making spouts of water whilst crouching on shells, surrounding the fountain basin. The masks and tritons were situated in originally on the Fontana del Moro at the Piazza Navona in 1575 but taken from there in 1874 and placed here in 1909. The Fontana delle Venere, the Fountain of Venus was built in the nineteenth century and is a circular pool with a status of Venus standing on a shell in the centre.
The Civic Zoological Museum has more than five million items including insects, birds, and mollusks. Complementing this is the BioPark, now a modern zoo but dating back to 1911. It contains all kinds of animals including Giraffe, Hippos, Tigers, Bears and Elephants. The zoo is a great place to visit from your Rome apartments.
Visit the Villa Borghese Park during your next stay at an apartment in Rome.
