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Visiting Villa Torlonia in Rome means immersing oneself in a unique experience, rich in environments that differ in terms of use, style and… emotions. Emotions that lead us to discover a residence desired, inhabited and enriched by noble families.
And by a dictator who ruled Italy in the most nefarious twenty years of its unitary history.
Having belonged to the Pamphilj family from the 17th to mid-18th century, then to the Colonna family, as an agricultural estate, in 1806 the Torlonia commissioned Valadier to design the villa.
The famous architect renovated the existing building, constructed new spaces and buildings and created new picturesque corners in the estate. A few hundred metres from Porta Pia, on the Nomentana road, an exclusive residence isolated from its surroundings developed.
The Torlonia family also left important evidence of architecture and art in other villas, the most important of which is undoubtedly Villa Torlonia in Frascati..
Impossible in one post to recount all the works present here. So let us take a bird’s eye view of Villa Torlonia.
The Casino nobile, or main house, is an example of neoclassical architecture that often hosts exhibitions on the top floor.
In the basement of the Villa Torlonia in Rome, the bunker built by Mussolini and a room resembling an Etruscan tomb.
The Casino dei Principi, on the other hand, is in neo-16th-century style. Very original and evocative, on the other hand, is the Casina delle Civette with coloured glass windows and an overall image between Art Nouveau and Art Deco.
Worthy of note is the Torlonia Theatre in which very different styles blend well together: Classical, Nordic, Moorish, Gothic, Greco-Roman and Renaissance. It is up to the visitor to recognise them.
Having run out of nouns to describe the works present, let us speak of ‘encounters’. For such are the fake ruins, fashionable in the 19th century, in the avenue leading to the Casino delle Civette. So too, a little further on, is the Temple of Saturn, in imitation of ancient temples and among the few buildings still to be restored.
And what about the Tribuna con Fontana, the Campo da Tornei, the Obelisks, the two Honorary Columns and the Marian aedicule that continue to surprise visitors to the villa?
Aranciera and Limonaia are two period buildings that now house a restaurant and a children’s technology museum respectively.
Adjacent to the choreographic Villino Rosso, built for the then administrator, is the entrance from Via Spallanzani.
The latest restoration is that of the Serra Moresca with high ceilings supported by Albana stone columns and side windows with colourful arabesque motifs. There are more than fifty different species of trees in the villa.
History, culture, art and greenery make a visit to Villa Torlonia unforgettable.
