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The
history
Villa
Sarsina take its name from the Aldobrandini family, Princes of Sarsina,
who owned it from 1874 to 1926, but it was constructed by Cardinal
Neri Maria Corsini of Florence, between 1732 and 1735, from a probable
project of Ferdinando Fuga. The Cardinal was the nephew of Clemens XII,
Pope between 1730 and 1740, and we
can still admire his impressive arms on the walls amid the
belvedere. As soon as he was elected protector of the port, a post
held till then by Cardinal Benedetto Pamphilj, he started to build a
country house in the park surrounding the villa, using
building-material from Roman constructions and
manpower composed by ship-crews, convicts and specialised
workers from Cisterna and San Felice Circeo.
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The
proportions of the foundations lead us to think that the edifice
sits on top of a temple dedicated to Hercules, also because
originally, he was the main guardian idol of the town, before the
Dea Fortuna: the discovery in the basement of Belvedere in 1931 of
a big niche adorned with mosaic panels representing a god with a
cludgel could support this hypothesis. However, the position of
the edifice on the extension of the Roman cardus (along Via
Flavia) overlooking the opposite stretch of water, the Neronian
port, confirms the idea that on this area a palace of great
prestige was built.
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From the comparison
of ancient maps, it has been deduced that the scenic stairways belong to
a later period, but still under the Corsini. It was the remarkable and
prestigious office of Nuntius to Portugal to allowed the Cardinal to use
all these different architectural styles; Don Miguel of Braganza visits
these sites, gave continuity.
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The
passaging of the edifice to Mencacci family is important for the
hospitality offered to prominent persons, like Pious IX Mastai
Ferretti for example who in Anzio decided the construction of the
original church of
Saints Pio e Antonio. The next change to Prince Don Pietro
Aldobrandini brought the villa back in fashion both for his
attention to art and the restoration by Vespignani with the
frescoes of the “Salvator Cottichellius”; |
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and also for his magnanimity showen to the
people of Anzio in a personal relationship considered to be almost
between equals. The discovery of the “Fanciulla d’Anzio”
interested Prince Aldobrandini’s family and caused a sensation,
according to the chronicles of the period (King Umberto I ordered
detailed photographic documentation while Count Pio Resse offered
128,000 lire for the relative export permission alone). The result
was that the Italian state paid a considerable sum to acquire it
and in this way avoid its sale abroad.
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This discovery set
off a sort of gold rush and the valley of Anzio would have run the risk
of becoming the valley of the Egyptian Kings, if the General Office for
Antiquities and Fine Arts had not arrogated to itself the exploration of
the territory of Anzio; however Princess Françoise de la Rochefoucauld
was able to carry on with further research work in the park, which
brought her added fortune.
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In
fact, following the controversies and the onerous purchase of the
Hellenic statue, the Italian State in the same year 1909,
promulgated the law relating to the public ownership of
archaeological discoveries. |
Clemens XII Corsini
has already attempted this when he had felt the need to control and
regulated the campaign of excavations, especially the ones made by the
great archaeologist Cardinal Alessandro Albani who, along with Johann J.
Winkelmann, had chosen this as his favourite area, after having promised
however to buy everything that had been discovered, so as to avoid the
dispersion of an immense archaeological patrimony which risked being
dispersed around Europe. The following sequence of the events concerns
the decadence of the villa and its garden neglect and sacking: when it
was the Headquarters of the German troops; during the transfer of the
evacuees moving to the new area of Anzio Colonia in 1960-61 and when, in
1967-68, some work of consolidation was begun; not to mention the
impressive finds discovered in the gardens and soon stolen during the
construction of the Military Hospital. It is a reason for meditation and
pride for Anzio to remember that famous powerful castes, like the
Corsini and the Albani, chose Anzio as the main residence for their
families: their other dwellings, as in Albano, Castelgandolfo and Rome,
were acquired later. Mild winters, the mysterious fascination of its
archaeological ruins, its wild uncontaminated
nature, the sea, all attracted yet other Cardinals, Popes and noblemen
who used their energy to make Anzio even finer, and wrote some pages of
highsounding aristocratic history.
Ownership
transfer:
1735 – Neri Maria Corsini Cardinale
1767 – Bartolommeo Corsini
1792 – Tommaso Corsini
1820 – Lorenzo Mencacci
1874 – Pietro Borghese – Aldobrandini Principe di Sarsina
1886 – Francesca de La Rochefoucauld ed eredi
1926 – Luigi Mazza – Romolo Ferlosio
1858 – Comune di Anzio
ATTENZIONE !!!
La riproduzione o distribuzione, totale o parziale,
non autorizzata del testo riportato in lingua inglese è vietata e
punibile per legge. |
