HISTORY OF THE SITE: THE PALAZZO CORSINI

View of the garden looking from the Palazzo Corsini west to the Janiculum Hill 1872. (Plate 18.1 Roma e il Suo Orto Botanico)

The history of the Orto Botanico and the Scala d'Acqua is inexorably interlinked with the evolution of the city of Rome. First recorded as an area of simple farms and gardens, the Orto became the backdrop for meticulously planned gardens of some of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Europe. The remnants of the garden's past are physically separated from the Orto by two gates: one closing off the Palazzo Corsini, the other the Nicchione, once the conclusion to the famous Scala d'Acqua designed by Ferdinando Fuga in the 1740s.

A watercolor showing a view of the Palazzo Corsini from the top of the Scala d'Acqua, 1780. (Images of the grand Tour: Louis Ducros 1748-1810)

Although it is difficult to ascertain the exact nature of changes within the garden, an analysis of written documents, maps, views, photographs, as well as the site and the physical fabric including archaeological remnants have yielded new clues about the Orto and the Scala d'Acqua. By tracing the garden's history through different periods, it is possible to better understand its current manifestation as the Orto Botanico.

The garden's history can be break down into the following periods of change: