Villa Doria Pamphili Historical Timeline

A pope's nephew's garden, fought over by Garibaldi's men, cut in half by an Olympic road, and finally bought by the city.

Chronology

1. 1644 — Cardinal Giambattista Pamphilj is elected to the papacy as Innocent X, and the project is placed in the hands of the Bolognese sculptor Alessandro Algardi, assisted by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi. Structural impact: the commission begins. What you see today: the villa at the centre of the park.
2. 1645–1647 — construction of the Casino del Bel Respiro begins and is complete within two years. Algardi was not an architect, and it may be that he had help from Carlo Rainaldi and that the construction was supervised by Grimaldi. Structural impact: the villa itself. What you see today: the Casino, above its parterre.
3. from c. 1650 — the gardens on the sloping site are laid out by Innocent's nephew, Camillo Pamphilj. Structural impact: the formal gardens and the terracing. What you see today: the Giardino Segreto and the shape of the ground.
4. 1849 — the Villa lies near the scene of some of the fiercest hand-to-hand combat of the defence of Rome, by the Porta San Pancrazio. In the course of the French bombardment the prominently sited neighbouring Villa Corsini is destroyed. Structural impact: devastation across this whole quarter. What you see today: the gate the fighting is named after, now one of the park's five entrances.
5. 1957 — the Casino del Bel Respiro, long secluded from public use, is bought by the Italian State and used as the seat of a Ministry. Structural impact: the villa passes into government hands. What you see today: a building you look at rather than enter.
6. 1960 — a road built for the Olympic Games divides the two sections of the extended villa grounds. Structural impact: the park is cut in two. What you see today: the via Olimpica, and the fact that one park has two halves.
7. 1965–1971 — the park is bought by the City of Rome from the Doria-Pamphilj-Landi family. Structural impact: none; ownership. What you see today: the reason it is free.
8. 2000 — in celebration of the Jubilee Year, a curved and arching pedestrian bridge is built to join the two sections separated by the Olympic road. Structural impact: the halves reconnected, forty years on. What you see today: the bridge, and a park you can cross on foot again.
9. today — the largest landscaped public park in Rome, operated by Roma Capitale, free, open daily from 7:00. Structural impact: none. What you see today: 180 hectares that almost no visitor to Rome uses.

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