Villa Torlonia

Lonely Planet review

Less than 1km from Porta Pia, this splendid 19th-century park once belonged to the family of Prince Giovanni Torlonia (1756-1829), a banker and landowner. His large neoclassical villa, the Casino dei Principi, later became the Mussolini family home (1925-43) and, towards the end of WWII, Allied headquarters (1944-47). These days it's used to stage temporary exhibitions.

The park's most eye-catching building is the Casino Nobile, a stately pile designed by the neoclassical architect Giuseppe Valadier. Inside, in the luxuriously decorated interior, you can admire the Torlonia family's impressive collection of sculpture alongside period furniture and paintings.

To the northeast, the Casina delle Civette is a bizarre mix of Swiss cottage, turreted Gothic castle and twee farmhouse decorated in Art Nouveau style. Built between 1840 and 1930, and gutted by a fire in 1991, it was opened as a museum dedicated to stained glass in 1997. Alongside the house's original windows, which include works by leading Italian artist Duilio Cambelotti, there are more than 100 designs and sketches for stained glass, decorative tiles, elaborate parquetry floors and woodwork.

The ticket office for both the Casino Nobile and the Casina delle Civette is just inside the Via Nomentana entrance to the park.