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Villa Aldobrandini

Discover Villa Aldobrandini

Last updated on October 8, 2026

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Introduction

Villa Aldobrandini stands above Frascati, looking down the valley towards Rome -- which is why it is also called the Belvedere. It is still owned and lived in by the Aldobrandini family, and it is the only one of the grand papal gardens not owned by the state.

Architecture

Villa Aldobrandini is aligned with Frascati's cathedral down an axial avenue that carries on through the town as the Viale Catone. It has an imposing seventeenth-century façade -- articulated vertically by pilaster strips and finishing at the centre in a raised section closed by an enormous broken pediment -- a double order of galleries on the rear façade, spiral flights of steps, the large exedra of the Water Theatre and a substantial park. On the grounds there is a monumental gate by Carlo Francesco Bizzaccheri of the early eighteenth century.

The plan inside follows a household's hierarchy from the ground up. The basement holds the cellars and what were the lodgings of the gentlemen in service; above it a vestibule with a side chapel leads into the great salon occupying the centre of the floor, with rooms to either side; the floor above held the quarters of Pietro Aldobrandini's personal staff, and the top floor the guest rooms. The paintings are by Mannerist and Baroque hands -- Taddeo Zuccari and his brother Federico, Cavalier d'Arpino, Domenichino -- with the room of Apollo, or of Parnassus, the best known: multicoloured mosaics, Domenichino frescoes and polychrome wooden statues of the Muses, of Pegaso and of Apollo. There are also succhi d'erba by Ginesio del Barba, paintings in plant dyes that read like woven hangings, and a Clement VIII by Taddeo Landini, who carved many works in St Peter's.

The Teatro delle Acque, by Carlo Maderno with Orazio Olivieri, is the garden's famous feature: a nymphaeum of 2,500 square metres with fountains and terraces on several levels, carrying under its balustrade a long inscription naming Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini the conqueror of Ferrara. To supply it and the rest of the garden, Aldobrandini built an aqueduct 8 km long from the Modena Spring on Monte Algido. The fountains are attributed to a Fontana, and the two accounts disagree on which: Giovanni in one, Domenico in the family's own.

The short history

Aldobrandini's reward for taking Ferrara, and the inscription under the nymphaeum says so.

Read the full historical timeline guide →

How it was built and evolved over time

It began as somebody else's villa. The original building went up in 1550. Clement VIII gave it in 1598 to his nephew Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, as a reward for the negotiations with France that produced the peace of 1595 and for his part in annexing Ferrara to the Papal States. At the end of the century the cardinal bought up the land that now forms the park, along with some modest buildings on it.

Three architects and twenty years. Aldobrandini commissioned the Roman architect Giacomo della Porta to turn it into somewhere a cardinal could live and also receive a pope. Work started in 1598, and though the core was finished by della Porta's death, it continued for another twenty years on both villa and garden under Carlo Maderno -- who added the loggia, and who completed St Peter's -- and Fontana. Which Fontana is not settled: the existing account names Giovanni, the family's own site names Domenico. They were brothers.

The water had to be brought in. A hillside water theatre needs pressure, not just a spring, so the cardinal built an aqueduct eight kilometres long from the Modena Spring on Monte Algido to feed the Teatro delle Acque and the garden. The garden is downstream of a piece of civil engineering.

The family changed and the name did not. When the Aldobrandini line died out the villa was contested between the Borghese and Pamphili heirs, and ended with the second-born branch of the Borghese, who took the Aldobrandini surname back up.

Then the bombs. The top of the garden has been derelict since American bombing during the Allied invasion in the Second World War, which also damaged the fountains of the Teatro delle Acque. The present owner's father repaired them soon afterwards but used cement, and they were in poor condition by the time Prince Camillo Aldobrandini began restoration work in 2011.

Frequently asked questions

Can you go inside?

No. The villa is private property, still owned and lived in by the Aldobrandini family, and the interior is closed to the public. The park can be visited by applying to Frascati's tourist information office.

What are the opening hours?

There are none published. The family's own site lets the villa for private events and does not advertise public opening; access to the park is arranged through the tourist office, so it has to be asked for rather than looked up.

How big is the water theatre?

The nymphaeum is given by the owners as 2,500 square metres, with fountains and terraces on several levels. It is by Carlo Maderno and Orazio Olivieri.

Where does the water come from?

An aqueduct eight kilometres long, built by Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini from the Modena Spring on Monte Algido specifically to supply the water theatre and the garden.

Why did a cardinal get a villa?

Clement VIII gave it to his nephew Pietro Aldobrandini in 1598 as a reward for the negotiations with France behind the peace of 1595 and for his part in annexing Ferrara to the Papal States. The inscription under the nymphaeum's balustrade still calls him the conqueror of Ferrara.

Who built it?

Giacomo della Porta designed it from 1598; Carlo Maderno directed the work after della Porta's death and added the loggia; the fountains are credited to Fontana -- Giovanni in one account, Domenico in the family's own. The brothers both worked on papal waterworks.

What was here before?

Earlier Latin and Roman building, and by tradition the villa of Lucullus. Large squared blocks of pre-Roman date have been found in the courtyard, probably from an Etruscan-Latin temple.

Why is part of the garden ruined?

American bombing during the Allied invasion in the Second World War. The top of the garden has been derelict since, and the fountains of the water theatre were damaged in the same raids.

See Villa Aldobrandini through traveler photos →

Sources & verification Covers the sourced claims on this page.

Checked against Wikipedia — Villa Aldobrandini is aligned with the cathedral down an axial avenue that carries on through the town as Viale Catone, and has an imposing seventeenth-century facade, a double order of galleries on the rear facade, spiral flights of steps, the large exedra of the Water Theatre and a substantial park, with paintings inside by Mannerist and Baroque artists -- Taddeo Zuccari and his brother Federico, Cavalier d'Arpino, Domenichino -- and on the grounds a monumental gate by Carlo Francesco Bizzaccheri of the early eighteenth century, The Teatro delle Acque at Villa Aldobrandini, by Carlo Maderno and Orazio Olivieri, is the garden's famous feature, and to supply it and the rest of the garden Aldobrandini built an aqueduct 8 km long from the Modena spring on Monte Algido (October 2026).
Checked against Stefanina Aldobrandini Ricevimenti (Villa Aldobrandini, Frascati) — Villa Aldobrandini extends over a series of high and regular terraces, on one of which the palace stands, and the main facade of the building is articulated vertically by pilaster strips and concludes in its central part with a raised section enclosed by an enormous broken pediment, Inside Villa Aldobrandini there is a basement reserved for the cellars as well as for the lodgings of the gentlemen in service; then a vestibule with a side chapel precedes the great salon that occupies the central part of the floor, with the rooms at the sides of the salon, while the upper floor in the past housed the rooms intended for the staff in the service of Pietro Aldobrandini and on the top floor were the rooms reserved for guests, The building of Villa Aldobrandini was designed by the illustrious architect Giacomo Della Porta, the works were then directed by Carlo Maderno, who completed the Basilica of St Peter, and the fountains by Domenico Fontana; the room of Apollo or of Parnassus takes on great renown, with its prized multicoloured mosaics, the frescoes of Domenichino and the polychrome wooden statues of the muses, of Pegasus and of Apollo, Villa Aldobrandini preserves some fine frescoes by Cavalier d'Arpino and by Domenichino together with succhi d'erba, similar to tapestries, by Ginesio del Barba, as well as precious sculptures among which that of Clement VIII by Taddeo Landini, the sculptor of a great many works in the Basilica of St Peter, Villa Aldobrandini, an Italian artistic jewel of the late sixteenth century, is made unique by its grandiose nymphaeum of 2,500 square metres with fountains and terraces on several levels, At the end of the 1500s the territory that today constitutes the park of Villa Aldobrandini, together with some modest buildings, was bought by Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, the conqueror of Ferrara as a long inscription running beneath the balustrade of the Nymphaeum recalls, who built a grandiose edifice with fountains whose representation appears in prints, paintings and reproductions scattered throughout Europe (October 2026).