Villa Montalto, Renaissance villa near Termini Station, Rome, Italy.
Villa Montalto was a Renaissance villa on Rome's Esquiline Hill, designed by the architect Domenico Fontana and featuring gardens, fountains, and pavilions spread across a large plot of land. It was the largest private property within Rome's city walls at the time of its completion.
Cardinal Montalto began building the villa in the late 1500s and, after becoming Pope Sixtus V, expanded it into the largest private estate inside Rome's walls. In the 1800s the entire complex was demolished to make room for the construction of Termini Station.
The name of the property comes from Cardinal Montalto, who later became Pope Sixtus V and used it as a private retreat outside his official duties. The gardens were seen as a model by other Roman noble families and shaped how grand private spaces were laid out across the city.
Nothing survives of the original building, but a fountain from the complex was moved and can still be seen near San Pietro in Montorio. Visitors curious about the villa's history can walk around the area near Termini Station, where the estate once stood.
Camilla Peretti, the sister of Cardinal Montalto, personally acquired the different plots of land that formed the estate between 1576 and 1588. This kind of female investment in property was rare in Renaissance Rome, making her one of the few women known to have directly shaped the growth of the city at that time.
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