Villa Farnesina private tour
Attractions & guided tours

Villa Farnesina private tour

Free cancellation
Language: English, French, Spanish, German
Availability: Monday to Saturday
Mobile voucher accepted
Duration: 3 hours
Why you’ll love this…
  • Visit the amazing Villa Farnesina in a private group
  • Feast your eyes with paintwork and admire Raphael's frescoes
  • Reach Piazza Farnese and admire the Farnese Palace from outside
What to expect

Take part in an amazing 3-hour guided tour inside Villa Farnesina, where the architectural design and pictorial decoration fuse into a single marvelous synthesis. Your guide will lead you and tell you about all the art and facts of this unique place.

Villa Farnesina, built in the early 16th century, is one of the noblest and most harmonious creations of the Italian Renaissance. The sober volumetric and spatial layout of the Villa, devised by the architect Baldassarre Peruzzi, is indeed the perfect setting for its rich interior decoration, boasting frescos by great masters such as Raphael, Sebastiano del Piombo, Giovanni Antonio Bazzi known as Sodoma, and Peruzzi himself.

After a troubled history and many changes of ownership, the Villa now bears the name and preserves the memory of the Farnese family, who acquired it in 1579, in violation of the binding legal conditions imposed by its original owner. It should have been named after Agostino Chigi, the highly ambitious patron and art-lover, who commissioned the Villa as the tangible sign of his own personality and high culture, decorating it magnificently and living in it until his death in 1520.

When he got married, the wedding banquet was a memorable event, but no less sumptuous were the many feasts that Agostino gave. The chronicles record for example that in 1518, on the occasion of the christening of the eldest child, gold and silver vessels used for the banquet were flung into the Tiber as a sign of munificence. After its acquisition by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese the Younger, and after the death of his nephew Odoardo who inherited it, the Villa was abandoned, being occasionally lent to important visitors to Rome such as Cardinal Richelieu, Queen Christina of Sweden and various ambassadors of Louis XIV.

In 1735 the Villa was bequeathed by Elisabetta Farnese to Carlo IV, King of the Two Sicilies, and became the residence of various Neapolitan ambassadors until Francesco II of Naples, having retired to Rome after his abdication, granted a 99-year lease on the Farnesina to the Spanish ambassador of Naples, Salvador Bermudez de Castro. Finally, the Villa was acquired in 1927 by the State, which used it to house the Italian Academy and in 1944 gave it to the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, housed in the nearby Palazzo Corsini.

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What's included
  • check Professional and licensed guide
  • check 3-hour private tour
  • check Skip-the-line entrance
  • check Headsets to hear your guide during the tour
  • check Villa Farnesina guided tour
What's not included
  • x_not_included Pick-up or drop-off
  • x_not_included Food and drinks
Where

Via dei Riari, 58, 00165 Rome RM, Italy

Meeting point:
In front of Mea Tours office, Via dei Riari 58 - in the heart of Trastevere area.
What to remember
  • Please be at the meeting point 15 minutes prior tour departure
  • Comfortable walking shoes are recommended
  • This is a private tour for a maximum of 2 peope, each additional participant will have to pay 30 euros in addition
Read more
Provider
Mea Tours&Events
Booking fee
Good news! No extra fees are applied to this booking.
Cancellation policy
Receive a 100% refund if you cancel up to 24 hours before the experience begins.

What people say about this experience

At the moment there are no reviews for this experience.

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