DOI Artikel:
Floryan, Margrethe: Sacred woods and sacred ways: Ariccia revisited
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14576#0051
SACRKI) WOODS ANO SACRED WAYS. ARICCIA RI A'INII1 I)
45
2. The town of Ariccia; with the Palazzo Savelli Chigi and Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta
architect and his pupil Carlo Fontana were called upon, and new design éléments were added. Bernini was
to put his mark on the existing palace building and the grounds.
The neighbouring piazza and the Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta (1662-1664) are also Bernini's
work (Fig. 2). The resuit was a grand Baroque scenery, with a touch of the Roman Panthéon on which Bernini
had worked a few years earlier. Only the dimensions disclose the Ariccia layout as belonging to the Latium
region, and not to the Vatican or the Roman capital. Bernini's church and the plaza with its two, symmetri-
cally placed fountains, occupy the space south of the Palazzo Chigi4. On the northern side the palace faces
the dense green massif that stretches from beneath the very palace building and far out across the sloping
volcanic hills, towards the Mons Albanus, now called the Monte Cavo5.
In 1988 the Chigis sold their résidence to the municipality of Ariccia, and thanks to generous support
from régional funds and the Rafaël-programme of the European Community, the palace building has been
thoroughly restored, a muséum has opened, and a séries of plans for the adjoining territory are being imple-
mented6.
For long the Chigi garden was a secret, eut off from the outside world, partly by its tall 17th-century
walls on the eastern side, partly by the dense woods that seem to have absorbed the garden structures deep
below the palace. Now the gênerai public is being invited to trespass the former borders. Guided walks along
carefully selected paths are part of the programme set out for the re-evaluation of the Chigi property. So are
occasional musical and theatrical performances.
Neither reconstruction nor re-creation of the former garden éléments is being aimed at. Instead, a truly
minimalist approach is on the order of the day. This makes the site stand out, compared to large-scale ini-
tiatives being carried out thèse years in so many historie gardens ail over the European continent. At Ariccia,
authenticity is not a remote goal. It is omniprésent, and the diligent and respectful fitting in of new functions
into an area marked by centuries of decay, ruins, and a unique lushness, is most fascinating. The essential
4 The Palace rests on top of much older fortifications. This accounts for the fact that the Palace and the Collegiata di Santa
Maria Assunta are not on the same axis. For the history of the palace, including its restoration in the late 1990s, cf. P. Bassani,
F. P e t r u с с i, Itinerario ne! Parco Chigi, Ariccia 1995; P. Bassani, F. P e t r u с с i, // Parco Chigi in Ariccia, Ariccia 1992;
S.Varoli Piazza, Parco e Palazzo Chigi: restauro e valorizzazione, Rome 1999. My article entitled Garden and Memory. From
Ariccia to Sophienholm, "Analecta Romana", vol. 28 (2001), deals with the Danish-German poet Friederike Brun, her visits to
Ariccia around 1800 and her own country seat near Copenhagen.
5 The name cornes from Cabum, a Latin seulement on the mountain.
6 Art works, furniture etc. reflect the life pattern and the taste of the Chigi family during some 300 years. Focus is on Sigis-
mondo Chigi, a passionate archaeologist, art collector and intellectual who made Ariccia a meeting place for members of the Roman
cultural elitę of the late 18Ul century.
45
2. The town of Ariccia; with the Palazzo Savelli Chigi and Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta
architect and his pupil Carlo Fontana were called upon, and new design éléments were added. Bernini was
to put his mark on the existing palace building and the grounds.
The neighbouring piazza and the Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta (1662-1664) are also Bernini's
work (Fig. 2). The resuit was a grand Baroque scenery, with a touch of the Roman Panthéon on which Bernini
had worked a few years earlier. Only the dimensions disclose the Ariccia layout as belonging to the Latium
region, and not to the Vatican or the Roman capital. Bernini's church and the plaza with its two, symmetri-
cally placed fountains, occupy the space south of the Palazzo Chigi4. On the northern side the palace faces
the dense green massif that stretches from beneath the very palace building and far out across the sloping
volcanic hills, towards the Mons Albanus, now called the Monte Cavo5.
In 1988 the Chigis sold their résidence to the municipality of Ariccia, and thanks to generous support
from régional funds and the Rafaël-programme of the European Community, the palace building has been
thoroughly restored, a muséum has opened, and a séries of plans for the adjoining territory are being imple-
mented6.
For long the Chigi garden was a secret, eut off from the outside world, partly by its tall 17th-century
walls on the eastern side, partly by the dense woods that seem to have absorbed the garden structures deep
below the palace. Now the gênerai public is being invited to trespass the former borders. Guided walks along
carefully selected paths are part of the programme set out for the re-evaluation of the Chigi property. So are
occasional musical and theatrical performances.
Neither reconstruction nor re-creation of the former garden éléments is being aimed at. Instead, a truly
minimalist approach is on the order of the day. This makes the site stand out, compared to large-scale ini-
tiatives being carried out thèse years in so many historie gardens ail over the European continent. At Ariccia,
authenticity is not a remote goal. It is omniprésent, and the diligent and respectful fitting in of new functions
into an area marked by centuries of decay, ruins, and a unique lushness, is most fascinating. The essential
4 The Palace rests on top of much older fortifications. This accounts for the fact that the Palace and the Collegiata di Santa
Maria Assunta are not on the same axis. For the history of the palace, including its restoration in the late 1990s, cf. P. Bassani,
F. P e t r u с с i, Itinerario ne! Parco Chigi, Ariccia 1995; P. Bassani, F. P e t r u с с i, // Parco Chigi in Ariccia, Ariccia 1992;
S.Varoli Piazza, Parco e Palazzo Chigi: restauro e valorizzazione, Rome 1999. My article entitled Garden and Memory. From
Ariccia to Sophienholm, "Analecta Romana", vol. 28 (2001), deals with the Danish-German poet Friederike Brun, her visits to
Ariccia around 1800 and her own country seat near Copenhagen.
5 The name cornes from Cabum, a Latin seulement on the mountain.
6 Art works, furniture etc. reflect the life pattern and the taste of the Chigi family during some 300 years. Focus is on Sigis-
mondo Chigi, a passionate archaeologist, art collector and intellectual who made Ariccia a meeting place for members of the Roman
cultural elitę of the late 18Ul century.