Romantic Rome: a romantic rowing boat trip to discover the lake of Villa Borghese
Villa Borghese is one of the most intense and exciting parks to visit in Rome, it is located near Piazza del Popolo and not far from Piazza di Spagna; it is the third largest park in Rome, it is actually extended along eighty hectares and inside of it, you can admire nature, art, culture and history. You can actually visit many museums such as the National Gallery of Modern Art, Villa Giulia and the National Etruscan Museum and the Carlo Bilotti Museum - which contains works by Andy Wahrol, Giorgio de Chirico and Gino Severgnini - just to make some examples, and appreciate the cool shade given by the green centenary pines all around. In this garden, you can also visit the Galleria Borghese, a marvelous noble palace of the seventeenth century containing an enormous quantity of masterpieces: we suggest you to take the necessary time dedicated to visit this collection of wonders.
You can easily get to Villa Borghese by Spagna metro station, then walk along a steep road from Piazzale Flaminio, right up to Villa Borghese, through the Pincio gardens or Porta Pinciana.
When you arrive at Villa Borghese, you can forget the traffic, the smog, the confusion, the horns and while you let yourself be carried away by this green lung, you will feel the mood change. A walk along these avenues will regenerate your mind and spirit. In the garden, there are statues of Victor Hugo, Lord Byron and Wolfgang Goethe, and reproductions of antiquities such as the Tempietto di Diana and the Fortezzuola di Canina.
there are the original Tritons: you will have the chance to admire their reproductions, inside the Fontana del Moro in Piazza Navona.
You will be able to admire a playground and a romantic lake, where you will see floating rowing boats, for rent if you want to dedicate yourself a moment of relaxation in nature, perhaps together with your beloved.
The charming Garden of the Lake in Villa Borghese
The Garden of the Lake is so strikingly beautiful it leaves you breathless: it is located in the centre of Villa Borghese, and you can easily see it thanks to the eighteenth-century reproduction of the Arch of Septimius Severus. It was designed by Antonio Asprucci, together with the experienced garden designer, Jacop Moore and the pond is actually made in a typical English style.
The Garden of the Lake is an artificial body of water where the Temple that contains the statue of Aesculapius was set, made in Ionic style, found in the Villa of Augustus, in Rome. On the sides, there are statues depicting what are considered the sacred animals of God: the rooster, the goat and the owl. On the door of the cell, there is a medallion depicting Galen and Hippocrates, on the tympanum there is the Snake landing, symbolizing God from Epidaurus, taking place in 291 BC on the Tiber Island. On the roof, you will find delightful architectural decorations that represent various deities.
The temple of Aesculapius was created by Antonio Asprucci himself with Cristoforo Unterberger, between 1785 and 1792, whereas the statues of the Nymphaeums were stuccoed in 1787, by Giovanni Rusca and created by Vincenzo Pacetti and Agostino Penna.
We can affirm this small temple is a real triumph of muses, water lilies and divinities that with this bucolic landscape that acts as a frame, give life to an exciting and unique landscape; you suddenly feel the sensation of being in another era.
A romantic rowboat ride in the Garden of the Lakes
Once there, perhaps you have already taken a long romantic walk through the gardens, you will have sunbathed on the benches, admired the landscapes and visited the museums, and finally walked the path around the temple, you will have to allow yourself to rent one of the coloured rowing boats and cover the entire perimeter of the pond. You will give yourself and your beloved the chance to swing together with the gentle waves of these waters for twenty minutes and to admire closely the architectural details that characterize the Temple of Aesculapius. Mind that you will not be alone, because some nice ducks, birds and ducks, used to the presence of these small boats guided by people, will accompany you for the whole journey.
We promise you will not get bored at all, because for those who have never paddled it will not be easy to do it: no danger of course, however it will happen that if you intend to go to the left, most likely the friendly boat will go to the right! Some laughter in a bucolic setting so beautiful and serene will only be the icing on the cake, since the air you breathe in that moment, the colours you will have all around, the company that the animals and the cackles of the children who play in the nearby playground will make you forget you're in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world.
At this point, you have undoubtedly decided to take this short trip through the waters of the garden, but there are other elements that will encourage you even more. You must know, first of all, that there are no long queues to book, but you can simply show up at the port and request the boat. Secondly, although it is not possible to reach the temple, go down and touch it, because the surrounding area is bounded, while you will turn around it and admire it better in all its splendour, this will be enough to satiate your curiosity and you will not be disappointed at all. Lastly, renting the boat costs only € 3 per person, a very honest price, considering you will get twenty romantic dream minutes.
