Sources disagree by a century and a half on how old this cedar is, and the disagreement is the most honest thing anyone can say about it. One detailed study of Villa Doria Pamphilj's tree collection places its planting in the 1600s, when the Pamphilj family first laid out the estate, which would make it over 300 years old. The tree's own entry in Italy's national monumental tree registry gives a calculated age closer to 150 years, with a trunk 4.6 meters around and a height of 30 meters. Both figures describe the same cedar, shading the belvedere terrace above the Lago del Giglio in Rome's largest public park. What is not disputed is the setting: Villa Doria Pamphilj was a private hunting and pleasure ground until the Italian state expropriated it in 1965, and this cedar, whichever planting it dates to, has shaded cardinals, princes and now Sunday joggers from the same terrace above the same ornamental lake. It is listed as the only individually registered monumental tree in a park that otherwise counts its history in family names rather than tree ages.
In fruit
upright barrel cones that sit on the branches like eggs
The line is our estimate of how much there is to see, not a measurement. Typical for this species where this tree stands; exact weeks shift with the year.
Belvedere del Lago del Giglio, Villa Doria Pamphilj, Via Aurelia Antica, 00165 RomaOn the belvedere terrace above the Lago del Giglio, a cedar 4.6 metres round, and the only individually registered monumental tree in the whole park.
Free, open access, Villa Doria Pamphilj
Bus 870 or 791 to the Via Aurelia Antica entrance, 10 min walk
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from.
- In the official register: Alberi monumentali del Lazio (Regione Lazio, elenco 2025), no. 27/H501/RM/12
- ilgiardinodialisia.it
- turismo.it
- commons.wikimedia.org
