Castello della Magliana

The castle is mentioned in the 11th century as a possession of the monastery of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere; an oratory dedicated to John the Baptist, which also dated back to the Middle Ages, was annexed to it. The work of complete restoration and adaptation of the medieval building began in 1480 under the pontificate of Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) and continued under Pope Innocent VIII (1484-1492), who in 1490 had much of the medieval structures demolished and the new building bearing his name constructed. In the early 16th century, Pope Julius II (1503-1513) entrusted Giuliano da Sangallo with the construction of a new small palace with a portico and large cross-mullioned windows, whose rooms were frescoed by some painters from Perugino's school. During the same period, the ancient chapel of San Giovanni Battista was also renovated. The era of greatest splendor was during the pontificate of Pope Leo X (1513-1521) who, in addition to further embellishing the buildings by calling Donato Bramante and Michelangelo Buonarroti to work there, transformed the villa into a place for literary meetings, concerts, and theatrical performances. In the vault above the altar of the chapel of San Giovanni Battista, pupils of Raphael Sanzio's school painted the Eternal Father blessing among angels and cherubs (preserved in the Louvre), while on the vault of the arch of the central nave they painted the Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia (fragments in the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Narbonne). With the end of the Renaissance era, and due to malaria, the castle also fell into disuse and was progressively abandoned; it was given as property to the monastery of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, which rented it to private individuals. In 1959, the entire complex was purchased and restored by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. It houses the offices and management of the nearby San Giovanni Battista Hospital, owned by the same order.

Emilio Venditti, Il Castello della Magliana, Rome, Tipolitografia Trullo, 1988. Emilio Venditti, Il Castello della Magliana, Rome, Buffetti Grafica, 1995. Anna Cavallaro, La villa dei Papi alla Magliana, Rome, Libreria dello Stato, 2005, ISBN 978-88-240-3567-5.

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Villa della Magliana, on RomaNatura. URL consulted on April 10, 2020. The papal castle of Magliana, on Associazione Onlus Mons. Azelio Manzetti. URL consulted on August 12, 2014 (archived from the original URL on October 18, 2014). The San Giovanni Battista Hospital, on ordinedimaltaitalia.org. ordinedimaltaitalia.org, on ordinedimaltaitalia.org.