Villa Fabri

Villa Fabri stands above Trevi, overlooking the Spoletan valley. Its early-seventeenth-century rooms preserve frescoes depicting virtues, biblical stories and allegorical figures, while the grounds retain a later landscape of gardens and olive plantings.

Why it matters

Girolamo Fabri built the villa in the late sixteenth century and inaugurated it in 1603. The frescoes on the piano nobile make the building an important example of early-seventeenth-century domestic decoration in Umbria.

What to notice

The atrium's painted programme centres on Glory, with the seasons and zodiac signs in surrounding compartments. The Hall of Solomon presents scenes from the Old Testament within painted architecture. Other rooms depict Religion, the prophet Daniel and hermits. On the façade, graffiti of Prague and other Bohemian cities recall the villa's later connection with the Collegio Boemo.

Context and history

In 1891 Monsignor Giuseppe Giovanni Hais acquired the villa for the Collegio Boemo and added a wing. The Pontifical Ethiopian College used it during the summer from the 1940s until 1988, giving it the name Villa dei Moretti. The Comune di Trevi later acquired the property and restored it in 2013. The villa now houses the Fondazione Villa Fabri and the Strade dell'Olio DOP Umbria association.