The view from the roof garden

The Porta Pinciana is both one of the exits from the ancient city and an entrance to the Park of the Villa Borghese, the largest and historically most important park in Rome. While the other parks in the centre of Rome have been built on, the five square kilometre Borghese Park has been retained and is therefore an excellent example of Italian baroque gardens from the 17th century that was redesigned as a landscape park at the end of the 18th century. Even if the park is suffering from strained finances, the overall structure and many small details have been preserved. It was created at the beginning of the 17th century. After four hundred years, gardens from different eras are side by side, and a great deal of their former glory can still be seen. In addition to the numerous sculptures, busts and fountains, the Galleria e Museo Borghese with its famous art collection is a major feature, alongside a museum for Etruscan art, a zoo, the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna and the oval arena of the Piazza di Siena, on which the renowned international show jumping tournament is held every May. Outstanding in the truest sense of the word are the magnificent umbrella pines of the park that reach up into the sky probably more majestically than anywhere else in the city – and directly in view of visitors to the roof garden.