DOI Artikel:
Floryan, Margrethe: Sacred woods and sacred ways: Ariccia revisited
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14576#0053
SACRKD WOODS ANI) SACRKD WAYS. ARK 'CIA REVISITED
47
4. The Chigi Garden in Ariccia; the Aviary, constructed in 1628
was placed near the aviary and the laurel alley, in the rather flat and narrow eastern corner (Fig. 5). Stone
vases and sculptures added to the décorative scheme, making this the most keenly decorated and well organ-
ized corner of the garden. It was a layout suited for a promenade, with the sound of the pattering water inter-
mingling with the bird song in the aviary.
One may argue that this part of the Chigi estate held the one and only garden layout. It had well-defined
borders, spécifie plantings, a system of paths, carefully displayed architectural and sculptural éléments,
including several fountains and other giocchi d'aqua. This is also the section which has been cleaned and
tidied up, re-planted and re-organized as part of the endeavours to open the Chigi estate to the public. More-
over, an architectural set-piece consisting of fragments found on the nearby Appian Way (Via Appia) has
been placed here. It matches the aesthetics of much 18th-century landscape gardening, like the camellia and
hydrangea that have been planted near to some former flower beds (Fig. 6).
Yet, the modem visitor to Ariccia expecting more will not be disappointed. The site is still in posses-
sion of some of the magie that once made it the goal of pilgrimages among Latin people as well as among
the learned men and women of the 17th-19th centuries. A narrow and curving path leads down towards the
gorge, situated deep below the palace building and totally hidden by the green massif. A blend of lushness,
surprise, and magie here allures the curious mind.
ROCKS AND RITES
De grands rochers nus, couleur de bistre, percent au milieu de la plus belle verdure et des accidents de
feuillage les plus pittoresques. On voit bien, à l'étonnante vigueur de la végétation, que la montagne d'Al-
bano est un ancien volcan9.
This quotation is from StendhaPs entry, dated 28 August, 1827, in his Promenades dans Rome. "La plus
belle forêt du monde est celle de la Riccia", he added. And a few weeks later, on 12 September, he noted:
"Notre passion pour la campagne et la forêt de la Riccia continue."
site-specific plantation would ever allow for such strictly formai layout; cf. С. В a с h - N i e 1 s e n, Cetinale: A Chigi l illa near Sic/m.
"Analecta Romana", vol. 24 (1997), pp. 113-127.
9 Stendhal, Promenades dans Rome, vois. 1 -2, Paris 1926, p. 53.
47
4. The Chigi Garden in Ariccia; the Aviary, constructed in 1628
was placed near the aviary and the laurel alley, in the rather flat and narrow eastern corner (Fig. 5). Stone
vases and sculptures added to the décorative scheme, making this the most keenly decorated and well organ-
ized corner of the garden. It was a layout suited for a promenade, with the sound of the pattering water inter-
mingling with the bird song in the aviary.
One may argue that this part of the Chigi estate held the one and only garden layout. It had well-defined
borders, spécifie plantings, a system of paths, carefully displayed architectural and sculptural éléments,
including several fountains and other giocchi d'aqua. This is also the section which has been cleaned and
tidied up, re-planted and re-organized as part of the endeavours to open the Chigi estate to the public. More-
over, an architectural set-piece consisting of fragments found on the nearby Appian Way (Via Appia) has
been placed here. It matches the aesthetics of much 18th-century landscape gardening, like the camellia and
hydrangea that have been planted near to some former flower beds (Fig. 6).
Yet, the modem visitor to Ariccia expecting more will not be disappointed. The site is still in posses-
sion of some of the magie that once made it the goal of pilgrimages among Latin people as well as among
the learned men and women of the 17th-19th centuries. A narrow and curving path leads down towards the
gorge, situated deep below the palace building and totally hidden by the green massif. A blend of lushness,
surprise, and magie here allures the curious mind.
ROCKS AND RITES
De grands rochers nus, couleur de bistre, percent au milieu de la plus belle verdure et des accidents de
feuillage les plus pittoresques. On voit bien, à l'étonnante vigueur de la végétation, que la montagne d'Al-
bano est un ancien volcan9.
This quotation is from StendhaPs entry, dated 28 August, 1827, in his Promenades dans Rome. "La plus
belle forêt du monde est celle de la Riccia", he added. And a few weeks later, on 12 September, he noted:
"Notre passion pour la campagne et la forêt de la Riccia continue."
site-specific plantation would ever allow for such strictly formai layout; cf. С. В a с h - N i e 1 s e n, Cetinale: A Chigi l illa near Sic/m.
"Analecta Romana", vol. 24 (1997), pp. 113-127.
9 Stendhal, Promenades dans Rome, vois. 1 -2, Paris 1926, p. 53.