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Casina delle Civette, Villa Torlonia museums
Built early last century, the Trieste-Salario district is today a beautiful residential area, perfect for shopping, dining, visit archeological and historical attractions like churches and catacombs, or have a charming and pleasant walk in the public parks of Villa Borghese, Villa Torlonia and Villa Ada:
Villa Borghese garden and the Galleria Borghese museum: a large landscape garden in the naturalistic English manner, built by the architect Flaminio Ponzio, developing sketches by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V, who used it as a villa suburbana, a party villa, at the edge of Rome, and to house his art collection. The large landscape park contains several villas. The Spanish Steps lead up to this park, and there is another entrance at the Porta del Popolo by Piazza del Popolo. The Pincio (the Pincian Hill of ancient Rome), in the south part of the park, offers one of the greatest views over Rome. The Galleria Borghese is housed in the Villa itself and houses a substantial part of the Borghese collection of sculptures and antiquities by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Antonio Canova and paintings by Titian, Raphael and Caravaggio.
Villa Torlonia garden and its museums: just 5 minutes walking from the apartments, is the most recent of the villas belonging to Rome’s nobility, still retains a particular fascination due to the originality of its English-style garden, and to the unexpectedly large number of buildings and garden furniture in the grounds. Bought in 1797 by the Prince Giovanni Torlonia and subsequently transformed into a monumental complex (restoration being entrusted to the neo-Classic architect Giuseppe Valadier), it came into the news and into history as “Mussolini’s house”. The Villa was bought by the Municipality of Rome in 1977 and a year later it was opened to the public. A series of restoration projects was initiated in the 90s in both the park and buildings. In 2021, with opening of the Moorish conservatory, all restorations was completed and Villa Torlonia has returned to its original splendor. The main attractions of the site are the Casino Nobile (which houses the Museo della Villa and the collection of Scuola Romana), the Casino dei Principi (home to the Scuola Romana archive and temporary exhibitions space), the Casina delle Civette (known as the “House of the Owls”, perhaps because of the stained glass depicting two stylised owls among ivy shoots) and the Serra Moresca complex (a garden pavilion of polychrome glass that host exotic plants, inspired by the architecture of the Alhambra in Granada).
Villa Ada park: a popular spot for joggers, dotted with ponds and small lakes. The villa itself, once the private residence of King Vittorio Emanuele III, today houses the Egyptian Embassy. In summer, the park is the venue for open-air concerts of the “Rome meets the World” music festival. Villa Ada is the richest park in Rome from the standpoint of the fauna and the environment is: cypresses, pines and dwarf palm trees, but also a roller-skating track and facilities for jogging and fitness exercises make it one of the most loved and visited parks of Rome.
Also, discover the magic and history of the Coppedè district