Old Gardens of Italy 149 



earlier. It afterwards belonged to the Sforza and 

 Falconieri families, and in 1906 was purchased by 

 the German authorities, and is now the German 

 Academy. Noticeable are its fine stone gateways, 

 the outer having been constructed in 1729 by 

 Cardinal Alexander Falconieri, and the other 

 giving access to the inner court. 



The chief feature of the grounds is the beauti- 

 fully placed reservoir, which stands on a lonely cliff 

 and is surrounded by magnificent cypresses. It is 

 connected with the park by a double stairway of 

 appropriate simplicity of design. 



VILLA MONDRAGONE, FRASCATI. 



THIS villa is now a Jesuit College. The grounds 

 are shown to anyone really interested, on applica- 

 tion to the director. Begun in 1567 by Martino 

 Lunghi for Cardinal Marco Altempo, enlarged by 

 Pope Gregory VII., and finished by Paul V. and 

 his nephew, Cardinal Scipione Borgese. 



The magnificent loggia by Vignola and the water 

 theatre by Giovanni Fontana are the chief features. 

 The latter, though in a ruinous state, still bears 

 traces of its mosaics, its surprise fountains and the 

 reliefs in its niches. There is a fine fountain on 

 the terrace at the back of the house, and from here 

 may be seen the beginning of the cypress avenue 

 which these princes of the church intended to 

 continue the whole way, in a straight line, to Rome. 

 The curious columns at the corners of this terrace 



