Villa Torlonia (Rome)

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Park and front of the Casino Nobile
Back of the Casino Nobile

The Villa Torlonia is a public park to a manor house in Rome . It lies outside the Roman city wall in the municipality of Nomentano and is on Via Nomentana.

history

In 1806 the architect Giuseppe Valadier , who gained fame due to the redesign of the Piazza del Popolo in Rome , began to carry out the work on behalf of the banker Giovanni Torlonia from the Torlonia family , who received the site from the Colonna family in 1797 . The facility was completed in the time of Alessandro Torlonia , Giovanni's son.

After a long period of vacancy, the villa was the official residence of Benito Mussolini from 1925 to 1943 , who paid a symbolic lease of one lira per year. Under Mussolini and Prince Torlonia, a refuge against potential air raids was built under the park area in the Jewish catacombs from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.

Neoclassical sculptures can be found in the park.

The Casino Nobile is an example of neoclassical architecture, the Casina delle Civette is an Art Nouveau building . It was converted into a museum some time ago.

In the post-war period the buildings fell into disrepair and the park fell into disrepair. In 1978 the Villa Torlonia was bought by the city of Rome and converted into a public park. Despite extensive construction work currently being carried out, some buildings on the grounds of Villa Torlonia are in a dilapidated condition. On Easter Sunday 2008, larger parts of the old trees were destroyed by a storm.

A WiFi network with internet access installed by the City of Rome is available on the villa's grounds .

It was planned to install a Shoah museum at this location . It was supposed to open in 2013. So far, no corresponding construction work can be seen.

The park

The park of Villa Torlonia extends over an area of ​​13 hectares, contains two small lakes, an Ilex avenue and a rich number of native and exotic trees , such as conifers, palms, evergreen deciduous trees and fruit trees.

The park is decorated with garden sculptures, such as sculptures, vases, columns, obelisks, sphinxes and garden pavilions.

Buildings in the Villa Torlonia

  • Casino nobile , built by Giuseppe Valadier between 1802 and 1806, monumentally remodeled and expanded by Giovan Battista Caretti from 1832. When Mussolini resided here, he had two underground bunkers built. The house has been converted into a museum, most of the rooms are accessible.
  • Casino dei principi , built between 1835 and 1840. Museum with around 50 statues from antiquity to Art Nouveau.
  • Temple of Saturn , built between 1836 and 1838 by Giovan Battista Caretti as an ancient temple ruin. The model was the Temple of Aesculapius at Villa Borghese . The temple consists only of the pronaos with four Doric columns and a triangular pediment with a pediment relief made of terracotta by Vincenzo Gajassi. Depicted is a Saturnus , the Roman god of agriculture and sowing.
  • theatre
  • Tournament field ( Campo da tornei ), a kind of sports field that was laid out by Jappelli with reference to medieval tournament fields and Ariost's heroic epic Orlando furioso . The field is between the theater and the Moorish greenhouse. The accompanying structures for the spectators, which are based on medieval tournament grounds, are no longer available. When Mussolini was the landlord here, the field was used as a tennis court.
  • Serra Moresca , Moorish style greenhouse
  • Casina delle Civette , an eclectic structure that has undergone many radical changes. It was planned and built in 1840 by the architect G. Jappelli as a Swiss-style house, and between 1908 and 1913 it was thoroughly redesigned by the architect Gennai to give the house a medieval look. The interior - floors, windows, doors, stairs, furniture - was designed entirely in the Art Nouveau style between 1916 and 1920 ; the artists D. Cambellotti, P. Paschetto, U. Bottazzi and V. Grassi were involved. The house suffered severe damage during the American occupation from 1944 to 1947, and from 1978 it was renovated on behalf of the Roman city administration. Today it houses a museum for Art Nouveau glass art, in which works by contemporary glass artists are shown in temporary exhibitions.
  • artificial ruins

  • Temple of Saturn

  • theatre

  • Moorish greenhouse

  • Casina delle civette

  • Artificial ruins

  • Casino dei principi

  • obelisk

catacombs

In 1919, Jewish catacombs were discovered on the site, which were created in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD or shortly after the turn of the century. Dutch scientists date the catacombs to the 1st century using the radiocarbon method . Frescoes and inscriptions have been preserved.

Rifugio

Mussolini's air raid shelter was presented to the public in October 2014. The bunker was officially built from 1942. It is originally the villa's wine cellar. The system includes airtight doors, an air filter system and a toilet. The bunker was not used by Mussolini.

literature

  • Alberta Campitelli (Ed.): Villa Torlonia. Guide. Electa, Milan 2006.
  • Roberto Quintavalle: Alessandro Torlonia e Via Nomentana nell'Ottocento. Edilazio, Rome 2008.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on the official website of the villa (Italian) ( Memento from July 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Maltempo a Pasquetta danni e alberi abbattuti. In: La Repubblica . March 25, 2008, accessed July 7, 2011
  3. ↑ Corina Kolbe: Holocaust Remembrance: A Monolith Against Forgetting. In: Zeit Online. January 27, 2011, accessed March 30, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Annapaola Agati: Tempio di Saturno. In: Alberta Campitelli (ed.): Villa Torlonia Guida. Electa, Roma 2006, ISBN 88-370-4961-7 , pp. 170-172.
  5. ↑ a b Teatro di Villa Torlonia.
  6. ↑ Annapaola Agati: Campo da tornei. In: Alberta Campitelli (ed.): Villa Torlonia Guida. Roma 2006, ISBN 88-370-4961-7 , p. 174.
  7. ↑ Roman catacombs are older than expected. In: Wissenschaft.de. July 21, 2005, accessed September 11, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Mussolini escape room opened in Rome: In the dictator's air raid shelter. In: Spiegel Online . October 25, 2014, accessed June 10, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Mussolini's bunker open to the public. In: nzz.ch. October 26, 2014, accessed October 14, 2018 .
Commons : Villa Torlonia  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 41 ° 54 ′ 53.3 "  N , 12 ° 30 ′ 40.7"  E