Italy · Still standing
Castello Ruspoli
Castello Ruspoli is a 16th-century palazzo-style castle in Vignanello, Lazio, long owned by the Ruspoli family. Built around the late 16th century and surrounded by a celebrated Renaissance giardino all'italiana, it remains a private residence open for visits and events.
Its prime
1650
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1650
What Castello Ruspoli looked like in its prime.
A low, rectangular three-storey masonry palace with pale plastered facades, regularly spaced rectangular windows and a pronounced cornice supported by corbels beneath the eaves; a small central raised belvedere with a crenellated parapet rises above the low-pitched terracotta roof. The building sits directly behind a formal Italian Renaissance garden: symmetric parterres of neatly clipped box hedges, gravel axial paths, potted citrus trees and a central stone fountain, flanked by tall plane and cypress trees.
Its story
The story of Castello Ruspoli.
A Farnese Fief and the Building of the Castle, 1531–1574
In 1531 Pope Clement VII granted Vignanello as a fief to Beatrice Farnese. Her daughter Ottavia married Sforza Marescotti, and the Farnese pope Paul III confirmed the fief and elevated the couple to the first count and countess of Vignanello. The castle itself was built around 1574 as their seat, its elaboration attributed to Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola.
Ottavia Orsini's Garden and the Ruspoli Princes of Cerveteri, 17th century–present
In the 17th century Ottavia Orsini, who had married into the family, laid out the Renaissance giardino all'italiana that survives today as one of the best-preserved examples of the style in Italy, with a maze within its grounds. On the ground floor the castle holds a chapel dedicated to Sister Giacinta Marescotti, a family member canonised by Pope Pius VII in 1807.
The Ruspoli, an old noble family with close connections to the Holy See, rose to a princely title when Francesco Maria Ruspoli, 6th Count of Vignanello, was made 1st Prince of Cerveteri, and the family has used that title ever since. Though they also kept residences in Rome and at Cerveteri, many generations lived at Vignanello. The castle is registered as Italian national heritage and remains Ruspoli property, a private residence open for visits and events.
On Screen in the 21st Century
In 2021 the castle was used as a filming location for scenes in the film Rosaline, and it has served as one of the principal settings of the television series The Decameron.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1650.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Castello Ruspoli, including 1 interior: ground-floor family chapel (sister giacinta). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Recreate Castello Ruspoli with AI to explore it.
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Clans who held Castello Ruspoli.
The families that held Castello Ruspoli for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Marescotti
Sforza Marescotti and Ottavia were elevated first count and countess of Vignanello by Pope Paul III; the castle was built c. 1574 as their seat.
Ruspoli
Seat of the Ruspoli family for many generations; still their property today.
Nearby
