Wednesday, October 30, 2013

MAGLIANA'S CASTLE

CASTELLO DELLA MAGLIANA
Also known as VILLA PONTIFICIA DELLA MAGLIANA, the papal Magliana's villa, because in the past it was used as a country residence by the popes
The castle is mentioned in the eleventh century as a possession of the Monastery of St. Cecilia in Trastevere, with an adjoining chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist, also medieval
Restored and adapted about 1480 for Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84)
Rebuilt 1490 by Graziadeo Pichi da Brescia for Innocent VIII Cibo (1484/92) who also added a new building that bears his name
Julius II della Rovere (1503/13) ordered Giuliano Giamberti aka Giuliano da Sangallo (1445/1516) to design a NEW SMALL PALACE with a porch and large windows, added a NEW WING maybe by Donato Bramante (1444/1514) and restored the old CHAPEL OF St. JOHN THE BAPTIST where also Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael) (1483/1520) worked: he had designed the fresco in the apse "Eternal Father" executed by his pupils and now at the Louvre
Leo X Medici (1513/21) transformed the villa into a place of literary meetings, concerts and theatrical performances
Eventually the castle fell into disuse and was gradually abandoned
It was given back to the Monastery of St. Cecilia in Trastevere and it was rented
In 1957 the entire complex was bought and restored by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
Today it houses offices and the direction of the nearby HOSPITAL OF St. JOHN THE BAPTIST 1960/61 designed by the architects Julio Lafuente (1921) and Gaetano Rebecchini, also owned by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

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