France opens Rome's Villa Bonaparte to the public

(by Ida Bini) (ANSAmed) - ROME, 15 DIC - One of the most breath-taking locations in Rome is opening to the public: as of January 3, Villa Bonaparte, France's embassy to the Holy See, will open its doors to Romans and tourists who want to admire its rooms and gardens and discover the history, culture and beauty of this piece of France in the Italian capital.
    "Opening the embassy to citizens is a politically important gesture - commented Ambassador Florence Mangin - which unites and allows everybody to discover a place of culture, art and history of great relevance".
    Restored in 2018, the sumptuous villa has a portico with six Doric columns overlooking the fruit plants of the beautiful gardens, where much work has been carried out over the past few years. The villa's features include a large and fascinating room on the first floor, adorned with stuccos and paintings with a mythological theme; the Egyptian room, decorated in honour of Napoleon's military campaigns; the chapel with stuccos from the 1700s; the dining room, displaying 17th century French paintings from the Louvre museum, and the loggia with a 1700s floor and characterized by a ceiling decorated as a luxurious garden similar to the one surrounding Villa Paolina, known as Bonaparte.
    It is a splendid residence, built in 1750 inside the Aurelian Walls, between Porta Pia and Porta Salaria, at the request of Mantua Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, secretary of State to pope Benedict XIV. At the time, it was one of the most refined countryside homes, with art masterpieces and guests including leading artists, scientists and intellectuals, as can be understood by a famous painting by Gian Paolo Pannini from 1749, Gallery of cardinal Valenti Gonzaga, where among the many paintings and objects of art is also represented a group of people as they are looking at the architectural project of a building. When the cardinal died, the villa was bought first by the family Sciarra Colonna and subsequently, in 1816, by Paolina Bonaparte, sister of Napoleon and bride of prince Camillo Borghese. Major renovation work was carried out at Paolina's request, as well as a renewal of the interior decoration according to the Imperial style, which can still be admired today.
    Inside, the atmosphere is still as cultured and refined as Napoleon's sister wanted it as she loved surrounding herself with the most popular artists. During a trip to Rome in 1820, Irish writer Lady Syndey Morgan was particularly struck by it and wrote: "Of all the villas owned by the Borghese family, only one offers English fascination, French elegance and Italian taste combined in the happiest manner: Villa Paolina Bonaparte".
    When Paolina died in1825, the villa was inherited by family but in 1870 it was severely damaged following the takeover of Rome: when on September 20 the troops of the Kingdom of Italy opened the "breach of Porta Pia", they entered through the gardens of Villa Bonaparte. The building remained in the hands of the descendants of Paolina Borghese until 1906, when it was sold to the Prussian government which in 1908 housed there its delegation to the Holy See. It later became the German embassy between 1920 and 1944, and in 1945 France bought it and established there its embassy to the Holy See in 1950.
    Guided tours are available in Italian and French each Tuesday and Thursday, from 10:30 until 11:30. (ANSAmed).