Villa Torlonia is Rome's most intriguing public park — a 14-hectare English-style garden that was once the private playground of the Torlonia banking family and later Mussolini's rented residence. Unlike the grand, formal villas of Rome, this one feels deliberately romantic and slightly wild, with winding paths, exotic palms, centuries-old chestnut trees, and a scattering of whimsical buildings. The Casina delle Civette (House of Owls) alone, with its stained-glass windows and Swiss-chalet-meets-Art-Nouveau architecture, is worth the detour.
Affiché en ENAn English-style garden of winding paths and exotic palms hiding Mussolini's former home and a fairy-tale stained-glass cottage — Rome's most unexpected green space.
The park is free, but the Casina delle Civette and Casino Nobile museums require separate tickets — check museivillatorlonia.it for combo tickets and book the Jewish catacombs tour in advance.
Rome's most romantic park — with a Fascist-era secret
Villa Torlonia is the kind of park that rewards slow wandering. Unlike Villa Borghese's manicured grandeur or Villa Ada's sprawling wildness, this place has a peculiar, almost melancholic charm — maybe because it was abandoned for decades before the city reclaimed it in 1978. The English-style garden, designed by Giuseppe Jappelli in the 1840s for Prince Alessandro Torlonia, is one of the few in Rome, and you'll feel the difference: paths curve unexpectedly, palms and bamboos mix with holm oaks and fruit trees, and there's a sense that nature was meant to surprise rather than impress.
The standout is the Casina delle Civette, a fairy-tale cottage that started life as a "Swiss Cabin" and evolved into an Art Nouveau jewel box of stained glass and turrets. It's now a museum dedicated to stained glass art, and it's genuinely unlike anything else in Rome. The Casino Nobile — the main building — is where Mussolini lived from 1925 to 1943, renting it from the Torlonia family for one lira a year. Today it houses the Villa's museum and a collection from the Scuola Romana. There are also Jewish catacombs underneath, though visiting those requires booking a guided tour.
The park is free to enter, which makes it perfect for a budget-friendly afternoon. Go in spring when the fruit trees blossom, or on a golden October afternoon when the light filters through the chestnuts. Weekends get busy with local families — come on a weekday morning if you want the paths to yourself.
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Villa Torlonia, c'est le parc le plus singulier de Rome. Contrairement à Villa Borghese et son ordonnance majestueuse, ici le jardin à l'anglaise conçu par Giuseppe Jappelli dans les années 1840 pour le prince Alessandro Torlonia se promène comme une promenade romantique : les sentiers serpentent, les palmiers côtoient les chênes verts, les bambous et les arbres fruitiers, et l'on sent que Jappelli voulait surprendre plutôt qu'impressionner. Le parc a été abandonné pendant des décennies avant que la municipalité ne le récupère en 1978, et ça se ressent — dans le bon sens du terme.
La perle, c'est la Casina delle Civette, une ancienne « Capanna Svizzera » transformée en bijou Art Nouveau aux vitraux colorés et aux tourelles fantaisistes. C'est aujourd'hui un musée dédié à l'art du vitrail, et franchement, on ne voit rien de tel ailleurs à Rome. Le Casino Nobile, lui, a abrité Mussolini de 1925 à 1943 — il le louait pour une lire par an à la famille Torlonia. Il accueille désormais le musée de la Villa et une collection de la Scuola Romana. Sous le parc, il y a aussi des catacombes juives, à visiter uniquement avec un guide.
L'entrée du parc est gratuite, ce qui en fait une option parfaite pour un après-midi sans se ruiner. Venez au printemps quand les arbres fruitiers fleurissent, ou un après-midi d'octobre quand la lumière filtre à travers les châtaigners. Le week-end, les familles romaines investissent les lieux — privilégiez un matin en semaine pour profiter des allées en tranquillité.