The town of Ariccia (Lazio) has just concluded the 20 th anniversary celebrations of the conversion of its aristocratic residence, Palazzo Chigi, into a public museum and art gallery. In 1989, the town council successfully completed negotiations to purchase the palace from the heirs of the Chigi family. After extensive restoration, it was opened to the public and has since been one of the main attractions of the area known as the Castelli Romani, in the Alban Hills, 20-odd kilometres from Rome.

Palazzo Chigi, the sumptuous country retreat of the Chigi family, who came from an old clan of wealthy Sienese bankers, started off as a hunting lodge belonging to the Savelli family. It was purchased by Agostino Chigi, nephew of Pope Alessandro VII Chigi, when he married Maria Virginia Borghese, niece of a previous Pope, Paul V. Agostino had grand ideas, which is not surprising if you consider the example set by his uncle, the Pope, who gave Rome some of its greatest baroque monuments, including St. Peters Square, the Scala Regia in the Vatican, Piazza del Popolo and many important churches. The Popes favourite architect, Gianlorenzo Bernini, was given the task of converting the Ariccia hunting lodge into a residence suited to the Chigi familys station. The result involved not only the transformation of the palace itself, but of the entire town of one of the most interesting and complete examples of baroque town planning.

The palace, with its deceptively austere exterior, faces onto the monumental square of the Court, which is flanked by twin pavilions, fountains and the domed Church of the Assumption, modelled on the Pantheon. What makes the palace especially interesting, however, is that it is a unique example of an aristocratic baroque residence that has preserved its original furnishings, Cordova leather wall hangings (a true rarità˝) and art collection largely intact. Not surprisingly, Italian film director Luchino Visconte found it the perfect setting for his award-winning film The Leopard.

You can see the charming Summer Dining-Room, frescoed with climbing plants and birds, Maria Virginia Borghese green-and-gold canopied bed and the old pharmacy, all of which appear in the film. Dont miss the Room of the Nuns, with portraits of 10 Chigi sisters, all of whom took the veil, and the Room of Beautiful Women, with an array of famous beauties of the era, including Maria Mancini, who was the mistress of both French king Louis XIV and Cardinal Flavio I Chigi, Agostinos cousin. Also not to be missed are the suite of rooms with Cardinal Flavios opulent Red Bedroom and the cavernous kitchen with the original copper pans and utensils.

From the court yard, you can see over the vast 79-acre park. Its a wild wood  of the last remnant of the ancient Latium forest where the Roman goddess Diana had her sacred grove. A guided tour takes you to see the resident deer, the cave of the brigand Gasparone and the grottoes where snow was stored to make sorbets for the Chigi banquets.

Margaret Stenhouse

For information: Tel (0039)06.9330053