Parco Chigi (Barco)

The Barco is a wooded historic park behind Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia, where naturalistic woodland and seventeenth-century landscape design coexist.

Why it matters

The park preserves a broadleaf woodland that contrasts with the formal Baroque spaces of the town. Its landscape design is associated with Gian Lorenzo Bernini and represents an early naturalistic approach to gardens.

What to notice

The woodland includes oaks, maples, hornbeams and later plantings such as sequoias. Fountains, masonry features and historic paths remain within the wooded landscape. The park is also associated with archaeological finds from Roman Aricia, the ancient settlement along the Appian Way.

Context and history

The wooded area is associated with the ancient sacred grove of Diana at Aricia. The Savelli developed it as a hunting park. After the Chigi family acquired Ariccia in 1661, the park was incorporated into the town plan and its paths and fountains were enlarged under Carlo Fontana with Bernini's supervision. Exotic plantings were added in the nineteenth century. The park passed to the Comune di Ariccia with the palace in 1988.