Location The villa was built in an area of Rome known as the 'Vigna Vecchia' (which was once against the
city walls), lying on the slopes of
Monte Parioli, as a 'Villa Suburbana' and a place of repose.
Design The pope, a highly literate connoisseur of the arts, assigned the initial design of the building to
Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola in 1551–1553. The
nymphaeum and other garden structures, however, were designed by
Bartolomeo Ammanati, all under the supervision of
Giorgio Vasari.
Michelangelo also worked there. Pope Julius took a direct interest in the villa's design and decor and spent vast amounts of money on enhancing its beauties. Villa Giulia became one of the most delicate examples of
Mannerist architecture. Only a small part of the original property has survived intact, comprising three vineyards which extended down to the Tiber, and to which the pope traveled often by boat. The villa, as was customary, had an urban entrance (on the Roman
Via Flaminia) and a formal but rural garden entrance. The villa itself was on the threshold between two worlds, that of the city and that of the country, an essentially Roman concept. A medal struck in 1935 shows the villa as substantially complete, but with a pair of cupolas which were never executed. Vignola's urban front of the building is a somber two-story facade with each story being given equal value. It has at its centre the triple rhythm of a richly detailed
rusticated triumphal arch flanked by symmetrical wings of two bays only. The facade is terminated at each end by
Doric pilasters. In this facade of the Villa Giulia is the genesis of the seven-bay 18th century
Georgian villa, which was reproduced as far away as the
Tidewater region of Virginia. The rear of the building has Vignola's large hemispherical
loggia overlooking the first of three courtyards, laid out as a simple
parterre. At its rear, the visitor passes through the
casina, which again has a hemispherical rear facade, enclosing paired flights of re-entrant marble steps that give access to the heart of the villa complex: a two-story
Nympheum for alfresco dining during the heat of the summer. This three-levelled structure of covered loggias, decorated with marble statuary, reclining river gods in niches, and balustrading, is constructed around a central fountain. Here in this cool environment, sheltered from the blazing sun, day-long picnics would be held. The central fountain, ''Fontana dell'Acqua Vergine'', was designed and sculpted by Vasari and Ammannati: it depicts river gods and
caryatids. The fountain's source, the
Acqua Vergine, also supplies the
Trevi Fountain in Rome. The
Casino della Vigna ("little house in the
vineyard"), as it was sometimes known, and its gardens were set in the midst of vineyards, which could be viewed from shaded arcades on the outsides of the garden walls. Papal parties embarked on boats at the gates of
the Vatican and were transported up the
Tiber to the villa's long-gone private landing stage.
Later history Following Pope Julius' death, his successor
Pope Paul IV confiscated all the properties he had assembled; the villa was divided, and the main building and part of the gardens became the property of the
Camera apostolica. The Villa was reserved for the use of the new pope's
Borromeo nephews. It was restored in 1769 on the initiative of
Pope Clement XIV, confiscated by the new state of
Italy in 1870, and given over to the National Etruscan Museum in the early 20th century. ==In popular culture==