Villa Poggio The present public garden occupies only a fairly small part of the original land of Villa Poggio, which constitutes its historical core. The construction of the villa is due to the
Bolognese cardinal
Giovanni Poggio (also referred to as "Poggi"), who was the treasurer of the
Apostolic Camera under
Paul III and, being highly appreciated by the Pope, was subsequently sent to Spain for three years as
nuncio, to collect «
the spoils of all Spains» (a sort of general tax collector of the assets owed to the Pope) and then in Germany, which had recently become
Lutheran. From these nunciatures he returned a rich man and decided to invest in properties the resources he had accumulated; in Rome he built Villa Poggio, which however did not belong to him for long. Nonetheless, in 1834 an encyclopedic dictionary of sciences, letters and arts compiled by Antonio Bazzarini still described the Villa – generally called "Poggi" at the time – as «
Villa Poggi outside Porta del Popolo in Rome, where cardinals and ambassadors now stop when they make their public entrance to receive the compliments of the gentry».
Villa Balestra After being passed from hand to hand – the
Colonna among others – Villa Poggi was purchased in 1880 by
cavalier Giuseppe Balestra, who successfully devoted the agricultural area to vineyards.
The allotment The Villa was dismembered starting in 1910. In 1928 a part of the park was saved and opened to the public and in 1939 the Municipality of Rome could complete its purchase. The part, which had remained in private hands, was parcelled out and built up around the 1950s. Of the original park – which included several buildings, partly no longer existing and partly become dismembered and isolated edifices – only a portion remains. All the main buildings of the former
sixteenth-century Villa are now located outside the perimeter of the park of Villa Balestra and are all privately owned: •
Casino nobile: it boasts a
loggia which, according to
Vasari, was frescoed by
Pellegrino Tibaldi. •
Villa Parodi Delfino: it is assumed that once it was a stable, then the former dining room of the Villa; it is located in Via Bartolomeo Ammannati, 21. •
Casa del Maresciallo: in Via Bartolomeo Ammannati, at the corner with Via dei Monti Parioli; in the 1950s it was turned into a modern cottage. == The public garden of Villa Balestra ==