Place
Villa Aldini
Neoclassical hilltop monument raised as an homage to Napoleon, later reborn as a chapel and a notorious film set.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Villa Aldini on a hilltop above Bologna follows Antonio Aldini, Napoleon's closest Italian adviser, who commissioned a neoclassical monument after the emperor spent one afternoon admiring the view in 1805. It traces architect Giuseppe Nadi's unfinished columns and pediment, frescoed by Felice Giani, left half-built after Napoleon's fall and Nadi's death in 1814. You'll hear how the villa nearly vanished at auction in 1832, before Bolognese citizens stepped in to save it. Face the columns as you listen, and consider a devotion built with no promise of return.
This audio guide was created using AI.