A Jacobite Gazetteer - Rome

Casino Chigi alle Quattro Fontane

The Casino Chigi alle Quattro Fontane was formerly located near Piazza del Viminale on the north-east side of the Via Agostino Depretis (which carries on straight south of Via delle Quattro Fontane, and was formerly called the Strada Felica). ¹

The casino was a day residence with a pavilion and gardens. From 1664 the property belonged to the Chigi family. On September 30, 1757, the Chigi rented it to the Cardinal Duke of York (later King Henry IX and I). ² There are repeated mentions of the casino, always under the name Casino delle Quattro Fontane, in Henry's diary. ³ In 1788 Sigismondo Chigi sold the property to Antonio d'Agliana, and Henry was required to leave. ⁴

This area of Rome was significantly altered during the nineteenth century; there is now no trace of the casino.

Notes

¹ J. Salmon, An Historical Description of Ancient and Modern Rome (London: Printed for the author by S. Gosnell, 1800), 182. Cf. Giuseppe Vasi, Itinerario istruttivo diviso in otto stazioni o giornate per ritrovare con facilita tutte le antiche e moderne magnificenze di Roma (Rome: Marco Pagliarini, 1763; Rome: A. Casalette, 1777).

² Maria Giulia Barberini, Guide Rionale di Roma: Rione XVIII, Castro Pretorio, Parte Prima (Rome: Fratelli Palombi, 1987), 146.

³ Cf. Mary Jane Cryan, Travels to Tuscany and Northern Lazio (Vetralla: Davide Ghaleb, 2004), 26, 65, 106, 109, and 156.

⁴ Barberini, 146.