View of the Villa Borghese

Standing at the center of the park on the Pincian Hill with a circumference of almost four miles, the Villa Borghese was Rome's ultimate entertainment retreat. Today, as the Galleria Borghese it houses an important collection of paintings and classical sculpture. Commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the villa was built by Flaminio Ponzio and Giovanni Vansanzio (Jan van Zanten) in the early seventeenth century. Filled with statues and vases, its decorative outer facades resemble a scenae frons, exemplifying the highly theatrical aspect of Roman Baroque villa architecture, also characteristic of the Villa Medici and the Villa Doria Pamphilj.