European and Japanese Gardens 



ENTRANCE GATE OF THE VILLA ALBANI 



urious Papal court and aristocracy of the sixteenth and seven- 

 teenth centuries. Within the walls, in the northern part of the 

 city, and adjacent to the Passeggio Pubblico or Pincian gardens, 

 is the Mlla Medici, overlooking the walls into the Borghese 

 Villa, which spreads its vast expanse northwards into the sub- 

 urbs, and commanding westwards a marvelous prospect of the 

 city and of the glorious dome of St. Peter's across the ri\er a 

 couple of miles away. The Villa Torlonia is at the northeast 

 corner of the city, next the Porta Pia. The Ouirinal Hill is 

 largely occupied by the royal palace and gardens, the latter 

 very extensive and beautiful, but too flat and uniform to cap- 

 tivate the beholder as do some of the other gardens. The cen- 

 tral zone of the city contains no important gardens on the cis- 

 tiberine side except the Piazza \'ittorio Emanuele and the 

 Botanical Gardens ; the southern zone boasts the \' ilia Mattel 

 (now, I believe, the property of an American, the Count Hoff- 

 mann), a villa full of the restful charm of antiquity, though it 

 has suffered from modern alterations. The finest Roman villas 



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