Also known as Villa Belvedere, is one of the most important historic residences of Frascati, both for the high position and privileged, that offers a complete panorama of the city, both for the splendour of the exterior and the interior thoroughly designed. Its construction must to Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini between 1598 and 1602, who had it built on land donated by his uncle Pope Clement VIII as a prize for having reported Ferrara among the possessions of the Church. The residence designed by Giacomo della Porta focuses on four floors divided into boardrooms and rooms devoted to services. To Carlo Maderno and Giovanni Fontana you should the Water Theater, the terraces and the complex hydraulic systems of the gardens are equipped, to which he also collaborated Orazio Olivieri from Tivoli. The ornaments and decorations symbolized the greatness of the Cardinal, as reported the inscriptions in Latin language along the frame of the facade, or the Pillars of Hercules in the nymphaeum (work of Jacques Sarrazin between 1620 and 1621) that alluded to the strength of the character in overcoming the difficulties, accompanied by the image of Atlas that holds the globe which dominates the central niche. Next to the nymphaeum the chapel dedicated to San Sebastiano has lost the decorations, attributed to Domenichino and Domenico Cresti said the Passignano. To the right of the nymphaeum preserves the room of Parnassus, with frescoes by Domenichino and Passignano spledinda, for the presence of the water organ made by Giovanni Guglielmi, John Anguilla and Jacques Sarrazin. Inside we emphasize the beauty of the piano nobile that preserves frescoes of the Cavalier d’Arpino with biblical representations; in the central hall stand out are the monumental fireplace and the bronze bust of Cardinal, work of the maestro Taddeo Landini, immersed between the wall decorations of the painter Annesio de beard from Massa Carrara that illustrate the magnitude of the lineage, and the workshop of the volcano and the Parnassus. Precious decorations and splendid frescoes cover the walls and the ceiling of the other planes, until arriving at the chapel of the third floor entirely decorated in gilded stuccos in full style from the seventeenth century. The villa is private property of the Aldobrandini family, therefore the inside of the palace is closed to the public; but it is possible to visit the park in the morning on weekdays.
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