Perugia, Villa del Colle del Cardinale reopens to public after redevelopment work

From March 21, 2025, the Villa del Colle del Cardinale in the hamlet of Colle Umberto in Perugia will reopen to the public. In fact, work on the rehabilitation of the gardens, financed by the PNNR Parks and Gardens Fund to the tune of 2 million euros, has recently been completed. Built in 1575 at the behest of Cardinal Fulvio della Corgna, nephew of Pope Julius III, and probably designed by Perugian architect Galeazzo Alessi, the Villa is once again accessible to visitors in a new guise.

The work focused on redefining the still-recognizable topographies of the green areas outside the Villa, as they have sedimented over the centuries. The Cardinal’s Bath was also consolidated and the interior paintings were restored, as well as the removal of architectural barriers, interventions that will be completed during 2026.

The redevelopment of the garden

The main interventions involved the arrangement of the entrance and access paths, through the restoration of the rainwater collection and regimentation system, the repaving with 100% draining material, and the reconstitution of the boundaries of the side hedge of laurel (Laurus nobilis). We then moved on to work on the first hemicycle facing terrace, distinguished by the presence of the Heron fountain, on the parterre in front of and to the side of the villa, with the reactivation of the existing fountain, the improvement of theaccessibility, including to people with disabilities, and the planting of spring bulbs that, as they bloom, will evoke the garden design of formal eighteenth-century inspiration, preserving the plano-altimetric base modeled in the early twentieth century. After the restoration of the perimeter wall, the camellia theater and the new vegetable garden area will become accessible again, with the arrangement of the repotting Greenhouse and the existing iron arbors, the planting of a pomarium of ancient Umbrian varieties, as well as the securing of the space of the ruins of collapsed ancient greenhouses.

The executive design is signed by architect Maria Cristina Tullio, with the collaboration of architects Elisa Monteduro, Matteo Polci, Marta Murru, Cecilia Condemi, Mattia Proietti Tocca, and Sandro Polci; for the structural aspects, Structures BCD projects and engineer Giuseppe Carluccio provided support; for the facilities, FP projects. The agronomic aspect was handled by Isabella Dalla Ragione. Safety coordination was performed by Tecnostudio; the contractor was Sensi Leonello SRL; the subcontractor Ecolservice SRL. The lighting system was carried out by Pegam SRL. Enhancement and communication activities were entrusted to the Centro di Ateneo per i Musei Scientifici of the University of Perugia, which designed, in collaboration with Alberi Maestri, a rich calendar of training courses. Supervision of the restorations was carried out by Consorzio Aureo.

The Cardinal’s Bath

Among the treasures preserved by the Villa del Colle del Cardinale, the Cardinal ’ s Bath is a complex building that, according to recent studies conducted by a team from the Department for Innovation in Biological, Agri-food and Forestry Systems (DIBAF) of the University of Tuscia, is an annex of the Arcadian matrix garden, consisting of the superimposition of new and pre-existing constructions, in direct connection with the forest and the hanging garden. The Cardinal’s Bath has undergone extraordinary maintenance works for the safety and structural consolidation of the entire area, by architect and engineer Massimo Mariani. These have been complemented by conservation work on the frescoes by Marcello Leopardi that decorate the rooms of the Library, first by surveying the different pictorial phases, then retracing the executive process of the paintings, identifying the causes of degradation and, finally, recognizing previous restorations and various tampering. The public will also be offered the opportunity to take a virtual tour of the Bathrooms, as they must have once presented themselves. The different stages are being carried out by an interdisciplinary research team composed, at this first stage, of art historians Paola Pogliani and Michele Benucci, restorer Valeria Valentini, photographer Gaetano Alfano, and archaeologist Luca Lucchetti, an expert in 3D surveys. Funding under the agreement, supplemented by co-financing from the University of Tuscia, enabled the activation of two annual research grants awarded to Michele Benucci and Valeria Valentini. Currently, the first tranche of the work has been completed; construction sites for the second tranche, which include securing the Library, were delivered in March 2025; the contractor is Tecnoappalti of engineer Michele Coviello. Completion of the work and restoration of the decorations is scheduled for 2026, when it will be open to visitors again.

“The months of closure of the Villa allowed not only to carry out the redevelopment of the garden and to start important construction sites, such as that of the recovery of the Cardinal’s Bath, but also to rethink the monumental complex in its most varied declinations. We have embraced Brandi’s lesson that in order to conserve, it is first necessary to know,” said Ilaria Batassa, scientific director of the Villa del Colle del Cardinale. “Research has been our Ariadne’s thread: it has helped us not only to plan, but also to imagine the future, enhancement activities, collaborations. What we are presenting today is a place still ’in the making,’ in the making, with deep respect for its nature and with a view to a chorality and participation that are authentic and capable of strengthening the bond with communities.”

Photo by Filippo Fagioli

Perugia, Villa del Colle del Cardinale reopens to public after redevelopment work

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