Villa Aprile, also called Riario Sforza, is a villa in Ercolano built in the second half of the eighteenth century. It is one of the largest on the Miglio d'Oro and, though not among the most lavish, it keeps one of the most scenic parks in the Vesuvian area.
What to see
It was built by Duke Girolamo Riario Sforza on the stretch of the Miglio d'Oro just outside the town of Resina, where the royal road to Calabria continues wide and straight towards Torre del Greco. The original, smaller building already had a luxuriant park: at the entrance, in front of the central exedra, a large fishpond was built with a marble statue of Prometheus at its centre.
On the duke's death the property passed to his three children and then, in 1818, to his granddaughter Giovanna, wife of Marshal Nugent, who made major changes to the building and the park, filling it with neoclassical structures: small temples, fake ruins, Corinthian columns, an Alpine chalet with a water-lily pond, grottoes and waterfalls. In 1864 the villa was sold to the Galante family and in 1879 to the Aprile family, who kept it until recent times and turned part of it into a luxury hotel. Between the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth it was a place of high society, with guests such as Count Carlo Sforza and Prime Minister Antonio Salandra, visits recorded mainly by local sources.
Visiting
Today the villa, restored in both building and park, is a four-star hotel. Whether non-residents can see the park should be checked with the hotel.
Our editors' tip
In 1792 Carlo Celano called it the queen of villas, not only of that area but of all Naples, among those owned by private individuals, writing that none equalled it in magnificence, good taste and splendour.
