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The original villa was built in 1551. Pope Clement VIII gave his nephew Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini the villa in 1598 as a reward for the negotiations he undertook with France which resulted in the peace treaty of 1595 and for his role in annexing Ferrara to the Papal States. Clement's gift also ensured the property remained in the family as Popes are not allowed to own property.
Aldobrandini commissioned the Roman architect Giacomo della Porta to convert the villa into suitable accommodation in which a Cardinal could live and also entertain a Pope. Work started in 1598. While the core of the villa was completed by the time of Giacomo della Porta's death in 1603, work continued for another 20 years on the various aspects of the villa and the garden under the supervision of Carlo Maderno, who added the loggia, and Giovanni Fontana.
A noted feature of the garden is the Teatro delle Acque ("Water Theater") by Carlo Maderno and Orazio Olivieri. To provide water for this feature and for the rest of the garden, Aldobrandini constructed a new 8 kilometres long aqueduct from the Modena spring on Monte Algido to the villa.
The photo shows the façade seen from the garden.
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