The ‘Lex Hortorum’ and access to gardens of Latium during the Renaissance

Abstract

On 12 May 1885 Prince Marcantonio Borghese ordered the gates of the park of his villa at Rome to be closed to the public, who had been accustomed to ride or walk freely in the grounds.1 Rumours had already begun to circulate in Rome that Borghese was planning to sell about two-thirds of his estate for some eight million lire (20 million according to other reports) to building speculators, retaining only the casino and its immediate gardens for his own use. With the establishment of Rome as the capital of the new Kingdom of Italy in 1871, the city was undergoing rapid expansion, endangering the undeveloped portions of the city. Earlier in 1885, on 6 April, the Prince of Piombino had sold the huge Ludovisi villa-park on the Pincian hill, just within the city walls outside of which lay the Borghese park; and the Ludovisi gardens were being tranformed into the urban development now centred around the Via Veneto. So on 8 May 1885, Duke Leopoldo Torlonia, Mayor of Rome, heeding the rumours regarding the Borghese holdings, wrote to Borghese that before he should alienate any of his property, Torlonia would like to discuss it with him on behalf of the commune of Rome, adding — ‘independent of eventual rights that the municipality might itself point out’. The latter phrase alarmed Borghese, who in his reply of 11 May announced his decision to close the park to the public, thus ensuring his legal ownership of the estate.

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