One of the adjacent properties owned by the American Academy is the Villa Aurelia. Initially, our apartment was going to be in this complex, but it was shifted to be more 'connected' to the main building and closer to our studio space. It is quite an extraordinary building with amazing gardens. It is totally walled in and not easy to wander into. Since it is used for major events and conferences, there is a high level of security. The AAR folks are free to visit, but need to call in advance to have security buzz us in at the gatehouse.
We were in the front office asking Gianpaolo to make the call for us when we ran into Joe and Cathy, who had also been thinking about walking over.......so we went together. Before the pictures, here is an overview of the property.
Villa Aurelia - short history
The Villa Aurelia, originally built for Cardinal Girolamo Farnese around 1650, is the setting for conferences, public receptions, concerts, and other programs. It also includes apartments for the Academy's Residents and is surrounded by 3.8 acres of magnificent gardens.
In the early nineteenth century, the property was purchased by Count Alessandro Savorelli, who began extensive restoration and new construction projects. Much of the decorative work from that period is still visible today. In 1849, Giuseppe Garibaldi selected the Villa Aurelia as his headquarters for the defense of the Roman Republic against the French Army, and, after only one month, French artillery had caused extensive damage. Count Savorelli was able to restore the Villa before his death, and it was then sold to the Monte di Pieta from which it was bought in 1881 by Mrs. Clara Jessup Heyland, an American heiress from Philadelphia. In 1909, Mrs. Heyland died, bequeathing the Villa to the American Academy in Rome.
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| This was interesting. They were pruning the pine cones out of the tree in order to not have them fall on people's heads. These trees were right near the entry drop-off, and the pine cones were huge. Guess they need to make sure folks don't bet bonked on the head! |
After our wandering through the gardens, we headed off to Via Carini for a cappuccino and Joe and Cathy took a bus downtown to see the Canaletto show at Palazzo Baschi. Another very nice day made for good sidewalk laziness at the Bar Caffè Crisci.
We eventually headed down to the outdoor market and grabbed some more essentials........eggs, bread, pastries, wine, prosecco, toilet paper, paper towels and fresh strawberries! Back to the apartment for lunch and catching up on email.
For dinner we decided to go to the 'Friday Night Children's Buffet' in the Dining Room. We went last week and it was fun. Before dinner we stopped by the bar for a prosecco. Geronimo was there and he bought our drinks for us.......interesting guy.......we think he is both black and American indian.
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| Gabriel and Tiziana run the show! Very nice! |
Dinner was an Italian version of spaghetti and meatballs.......requested by the kids. It was great! followed by a dessert of chocolate cookies and milk! Dinner is served early on Friday, so we were done by about 8:30 and decided to head up to the Bar Gianicolo for a Limoncello. Very nice place to sit and 'people watch!'
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| John (artist from New York) and Jeremy (just stepped out of the picture) playing pool after dinner. |
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| Bar Gianicolo.......Andi at our table in the middle. |
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| View of the Porta San Pancrazio from our table |
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