VILLA CORSINI 



The Villa Corsini lies on the slopes of the Janiculum at the rear of the 

 Palazzo Corsini, now the Royal Academy of Science. Purchased by the 

 Government about 1884, the lower part of the grounds was devoted to 

 botanical gardens, the upper being included in the grounds which are 

 attached to the Passeggiata Margherita. Whether this could ever have 

 been considered one of the great architectural gardens it is not easy to 

 say, owing to the fact that the government officials, for the sake of doing 

 something to justify their possession, grubbed up the ancient bay hedges 

 and cut down good trees, planting in their place rows of palms and firs 

 and other inappropriate vegetation. 



Of the architectural features and works of art a few rather poor busts 

 and statues only remain, together with the Triton fountain and a stair- 

 way with its accompanying cascade. The Villa is now in a nondescript 

 state, at least so far as the part near the palazzo is concerned. But what 

 a charming botanical garden could have been created here, had all that 

 was left of the old gardens been used as a background for the formal 

 beds which were intended to receive the botanical specimens ! In order 

 to see what can be done with a botanical garden, one should visit Padua, 

 where the old garden has a high circular wall finished with a balustrade, 

 great gateways, urns, and busts. It is laid out with firm stone edgings, 

 not rock work, each plant or family having a division set apart for it. 

 Fountains enliven the principal walks, and, like all fountains in Italy, 

 these are useful as well as ornamental, for from them the gardener fills 

 his cans when the sun gets low. 



The Villa Corsini appears to have been a possession of the family of 



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