Jewel Of Architecture
Mouthpiece Villa
The villa of Boccaglione or Bucaione, is located in Passaggio, in the plain that stretches at the foot of the hill of Bettona where the Chiascio and Topino rivers mix their waters before flowing into the Tiber.
It was built in the second half of the eighteenth century perhaps on a pre-existing building dating from two centuries earlier, by the ancient Bettonese family of Crispolti; it then passed to the Perugian family of Arcipreti della Penna, then to the Bettonese family of Bianconi, and from them to the Iraci Borgia Mandolini family.
In 1993 it was purchased by the Ministry BB. CC. AA. Unknown is the name of the architect who oversaw its design, although some features lead it back to the cultural area of Piermarini.
The villa consists of a large two-story central body and several outbuildings, including the small but valuable church dating back to the second half of the 17th century, connected by a hanging passage to the main floor level of the residence.
Perhaps it was precisely the extreme visibility of the complex, located in the center of a vast landed estate, that directed the architect-conceiver, toward a completely original configuration that saw the coexistence of the model of a suburban villa with that of an urban villa provided with its gardens as designated places forotium.
In the urban villa, the garden is usually enclosed by high walls that mark a clear separation with the rest of the city; even the Boccaglione villa, despite being located in the open countryside, closes in on itself by encircling itself with walls, thus marking a clear separation with the agricultural land, as if to testify to the owners’ intent to assert their nobility analogous to the city nobility.
The severe architectural expression of the monumental villa characterized by eighteenth-century motifs, in the undulating interplay of the facade, already finished by an attic, is enlivened by the grand hemicycle staircase crossed by the axis of the central avenue that continues into the gardens behind.
A long tree-lined avenue leads to the large rectangular courtyard in front of the main body, from which, in an easterly direction, the so-called “secret” garden bordered by a wall opens up, which is spread over three distinct levels, each of which is characterized by the presence of fountains.
At the back of the villa is the exedra garden (Arcadia garden) conformed as an Italian garden, and beyond that the informal garden (or English park) with the outdoor theater.
Looking at old photographs of the sites, one can see how the “artificial” greenery of flower beds, lemon trees and large shrubs occupied much of the grounds belonging to the villa.
The importance of these gardens is not attributable to their size, which is modest in comparison with the gardens of the villas of Monza or at the Reggia di Caserta, but to their elegance and variety, which consists of the simultaneous presence of three types of gardens in vogue from the 1700s and throughout the 1800s.