Il cardinale Alessandro decise, intorno al 1579, di aggiungere ai Giardini Bassi un grande parco molto più vasto, diviso in quattro ripiani, dove poter rilassarsi ed intrattenere ancor di più i suoi ospiti. Salendo una serie di scale che partono dai Giardini Bassi e percorrendo dei magnifici viali alberati, si giunge al primo ripiano dove si trova la grande fontana circolare “del Giglio”. Da due padiglioni parte una duplice scala che conduce al secondo ripiano; nel mezzo è posta una Catena di Delfini in peperino nella quale scorre acqua. Su questo ripiano si trova la fontana detta “dei Fiumi”, composta da due giganti che gettano acqua in un grande bicchiere che poi, traboccando, cade per finire in una grande vasca sottostante. Con due scale semicircolari si arriva al terzo ripiano, adibito a giardino, circondato da alte Cariatidi e composto da riquadri di siepi con piccole fontane in peperino. Nel centro sorge la Palazzina, realizzata tra il 1584 e il 1586, il suo progetto viene attribuito al Garzoni. L’elegante edificio si compone di due piani; nel piano terra vi sono cinque camere ed una loggia, mentre nel piano rialzato vi sono quattro stanze con due logge e nello spazio intermedio fra le sale vi è una piccola cappella. Le stanze sono affrescate soltanto nella volta con scene mitologiche e grottesche. Attraverso una doppia scala cordonata, composta da Tritoni in peperino che gettano acqua in piccole vaschette, si accede all’ultimo ripiano. Questo è composto da una vasta platea abbellita con ninfe cavalcanti animali marini e Tritoni che gettano acqua in tazze di peperino. Al centro della piazza si trova un’elegante fontana in marmo con intorno una pavimentazione in mosaico raffigurante gli stemmi dei Farnese. Percorrendo un lungo viale si giunge ad una grande porta chiamata Porta dei Gigli, superata la quale, si accede alla strada che conduce alla Cassia Cimina.
Probabilmente edificato intorno alla metà del XVI secolo dalla famiglia Laurenzi, venne ristrutturato nella prima metà del XVII secolo dalla famiglia dei conti Sebastiani.
Appartenevano a questa famiglia il pittore di origine maceratese Giuseppe Bastiani (1569-1638) ed il Servo di Dio Mons. Girolamo Sebastiani, Vescovo Carmelitano (1623-1689).
Nel 1803 vi soggiornò il re di Sardegna Carlo Emanuele IV di Savoia.
Venne edificato nella prima metà del XVI secolo dalla famiglia Moscheni, ricchi commercianti bergamaschi, e ristrutturato nella seconda metà dello stesso secolo.
L’eleganza del portale d’ingresso e delle linee della facciata, denotano una probabile progettazione vignolesca.
Venne edificato nella seconda metà del XVI secolo da Ercole Mariani, prelato domestico e maestro di casa del card. Alessandro Farnese.
Il progetto di questo palazzo si deve all’architetto Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola (1507-1573), come risulta dal contratto di appalto per i lavori risalente al 1571.
After World War II Palazzo Farnese was chosen as a summer residence of the President of the Republic, Luigi Einaudi. This resulted in a series of works and improvements to the whole area. Between 1953 and 1956 a master plan for Caprarola was created which resulted in urban development and the preservation of the monumental complex of Palazzo Farnese. The town expanded westward past the ditch of Pylos with the building of the great Bridge of Heroes and Strada Nova. The latter is now known as the Avenue of the Republic, the modern outer ring that connects the town to the Cassia Cimina.
The palace belonged to the noble Pettelli family, whose members were counts. They held a number of important positions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In 1725 the exiled King James III and Queen Clementina of England stayed there. As a reminder of their visit there is an inscription above the entrance of the door and one on the two stone columns found inside the door. The ashlar portal (stone door surround) is also of interest.
A defensive fortress once stood on the current site of Palazzo Fusaro. It had been built in the XIII by the powerful family of the Prefects of Vico, who already owned a house near lake Vico. The fortress underwent numerous transformations until the radical change in the second half of the sixteenth century during the construction of the Via Diretta. The creation of the road divided the fortified complex into two blocks: one on the side of the Fornella district and the other towards Piazza Sicilia. The latter part, the most significant, was transformed into the current palace and was used as a Chancellery by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, whose coat of arms we can see carved above the main entrance. Towards the end of the eighteenth century the Bourbons, who succeeded the Farnese, sold it to the Frizzotti family who ran a pharmacy, which remained active even when the Palazzo passed to the Fusaro family. The facade has a fine ashlar portal (stone door surround) and a loggia with pillars in the attic. Inside are ancient traces of a spiral staircase in the tower, a kitchen, two pit latrines and a vast underground cellar.
The gardens designed by Vignola and completed in 1583, finalised the transformation of the fortress into the villa and, like secret gardens, are enclosed by a high wall. At the back of the Palace there are two gardens that are accessed from the ‘piano nobile’. The Winter and the Summer Gardens can be reached via bridges, originally mobile, spanning the moat. In the Winter garden there is the spectacular Fountain of the Tartars, while in the Summer garden you can find the Fountain of the Satyrs. Both gardens are neatly divided into 16 panels by hedges. Of particular interest are the four granite statues of Hore which, placed at the end of the bridges that connect the gardens to the palace, act as sundials.
Palazzo Gherardi, at far end of the Via Diretta near the Palazzo Farnese, is today the Town Hall. It was built at the request of Matthias Gherardi from San Cascin. In 1535 he was appointed as the Master General of the Papal post office by Pope Paul III, a position he held until 1575 and for which he may be called the founder of the modern Papal post office. Gherardi oversaw the construction of the Palazzo Farnese and around 1573 began to build a home for himself and his son Marcello in the style of Vignola. The work was completed in 1580. In 1602 the building was purchased by the Brotherhood of the Cross and Discipline and it was turned into a monastery. The transformation of the palace into a monastery was completed in 1611 and it was dedicated to SS. Agostino and Rocco. After 1870 it was confiscated by the Italian State and became the town hall. The Palace, after undergoing many renovations, retains only a rough outline of its original structure. An original feature is the remarkable ashlar portal (stone door surround) with the town’s coat of arms and the façade embellished with various coats of arms and memorial stones.
The medieval appearance of Palazzo Riario is due to the fact that it was built as a castle by the Anguillara in 1370. In 1504 it was bought by the Riario family and restored as a mansion. Towards the middle of the sixteenth century, following the construction of the Via Diretta, it underwent further changes. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Palazzo was converted into private homes. The ancient castle rose up on the rock and was equipped with corner towers, of which two square and one round have been incorporated into the building. It has seven floors, three of which are below the street level of the Via Diretta. The windows of the main floors all have lintels with the inscription “Alessandro Riario, Cardinale e Auditore Apostolico.”. In 1771 the building was damaged when the bell tower of the Church of St. Michael the Archangel collapsed. The façade displays a plaque, which recalls that in 1878 a steam olive oil mill called “The Progress” stood on the site.
