Caprarola, Palazzo Farnese

Farnese Palace at Caprarola built between 1555 and 1575 is special as for its Renaissance architecture as for its Mannerist frescoes. It contains yet the precious reflect of the elegant sixteenth century manner of life of the Farnese’s Pontifical Court.

Palace and villa were commissioned by Cardinal Alexander Farnese the Young (1520-1589) to the famous architect, Jacopo Barozzi (1507-1573) known as ‘Il Vignola’. The ‘Gran Cardinal’, rich and patron of Arts, even more powerful than his grandfather, Pope Paul III (1468-1549) wanting to immortalize the memory of the Farneses to posterity, building a palace perhaps even more sumptuous than the Rome’s one.

Vignola laid out a pentagonal shaped five-storey palace with circular courtyard on the inside. It compose an exclusive Microcosm where every detail of both, architecture and pictorial cycle celebrate Farnese Family’s power, in an intricate and logic relationship between forms, symbolism and iconography. You will see precious and perfect architectural forms such as the magnificent helical staircase called ‘Royal Staircase’ which turn on 30 pair of columns, the circular courtyard developed on two levels and thirteen frescoed halls on the first floor (Piano Nobile).

Grottesques, trompes l’oeil, fine stuccoes adorn frescoes extending on 7640 m², depicting the history of the Farneses who were protagonists on the political scene of Europe in the 16^th century. Frescoes were carried out by some of the most important iconographers such as Annibal Caro, Onofrio Panvinio, Fulvio Orsini and painters of the period such as Taddeo and Federico Zuccari, Jacopo Bertoja, Giovanni de’Vecchi, Antonio Vanosino da Varese. You will be discovering the monumental terraced Renaissance Park where the summer residence of Cardinal Alexandre the Young is located.

What other site can you visit in the same day in the surrounding zone? Would-you like to choose one of the following places, please?

Viterbo

Villa Lante, Bagnaia

Park of Monsters, Bomarzo

Civita di Bagnoregio

Special one-day visit of Renaissance and Mannerist Gardens, Palaces and Painting:

Park of Monsters in Bomarzo – Villa Lante at Bagnaia – Farnese Palace in Caprarola.

Some kilometric distances:

Roma-Caprarola 64 km

Orvieto-Caprarola 67 km

Port of Rome, Civitavecchia-Caprarola 67 km