Villa del Priorato di Malta

Villa del Priorato di Malta or Magistral Villa,^[1] located on the Aventine Hill in Rome, is one of the two institutional seats of the government of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Along with Magistral Palace, the estate is granted extraterritorial status by Italy. It also hosts the Grand Priory of Rome and the embassy of the Sovereign Order of Malta to Italy.^[2]

History

The site, on a rise directly overlooking the

Grand Masters of the Order

.

Site

The site is reached by Via Santa Sabina, which ends in the small, picturesque Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta enclosed on two sides by the cypresses of the garden of the Benedictines backing the fantasy screen of obelisks and stele constructed in 1765 to designs by

campanile of the Church of San Anselmo

(1893-1900) attached to the international Benedictine seminary (Seminario Internazionale Benedettino).

Keyhole

At the northern side of the square the monumental entrance screen is located, also designed by Piranesi under commission from Cardinal Carlo Rezzonico, nephew of

allée framed in clipped cypresses.^[5]

The parterre garden links the villa with the Order's Church of Santa Maria del Priorato, an ancient church completely redesigned by Piranesi in 1765, affording perhaps the earliest example in Rome of Neoclassical architecture.^[6] Its facade is capped with a low pediment; paired pilasters on either side of the door have fanciful capitals each formed of a tower flanked by seated sphinxes; other elements of the classical vocabulary are also combined in fanciful and personal ways.