I don’t know if I’m so enamored with Villa Torlonia because I was in need of a green space fix, or because it really is as enchanting as I believe it to be.
My husband and I had read about a self-taught (Outside) artist, by the name of Pasquarosa. She had created many vivid paintings in her lifetime and a retrospective of her work was being displayed at Musei di Villa Torlonia. We’ve never seen an Outside artist’s work advertised in Rome during any of our visits and we both love Outside art. We also had never been to Villa Torlonia, so this was a perfect adventure for us. However, there was no mention of Villa Torlonia in any of our guidebooks. It was advertised as being located on Via Nomentana, one of the major roadways of Rome, just outside the Porta Pia, so we guessed we’d have no problem finding it.
Historically, the Pamphilj family (a Roman family with many properties scattered about Rome - I see a historical trail we'll be sleuthing!) operated a farm (cane fields, vineyards and orchards) on the 32.5 acres of land that is now, Villa Torlonia. Giovanni Torlonia became Marchese in 1797, and purchased the grounds to build a grand estate for his family. He commissioned Giuseppe Valadier to renovate the property with a grand palazzina (mansion), horse stables, and English-style garden. After Giovanni passed away, his son, Alessandro made many additional improvements to the grounds. He had an amphitheatre, coffee house, Chapel, Temple of Saturn, fountains, orangery, conservatory, grotto, tournament field, and lakes built for the many social and artistic events his family hosted. He also turned several outbuildings into grand homes. After Alessandro passed away, his son, Giovanni built the enclosure wall, three beautiful homes and a guardhouse. A large Jewish cemetery, dated from the 3rd and 4th cemetery, was discovered in 1919.
Unfortunately, we didn’t know any of this history or about any of these sites, until after we arrived and began exploring. I felt like Alice in Wonderland when I walked through the gates off of Via Nomentana (a 2+ mile walk from our apartment). I was immediately struck by the smell of fresh cut grass and all of the old, beautiful palm trees, planted along pathways. There are Egyptian-style obelisks in the park as well as a gazebo and statues, many headless (typical!) There are olive trees, lemon trees and low hedges to guide you through the gardens. Skeletal remains of large purple Alliums mingled within the hedges.
We walked, wide eyed, over to the Casino dei Principi, a small, lovely home that has been used as an art gallery and houses the archive of the Roman School (realism and expressionism artistic movement between 1920 and 1940.) The main floor has the most beautiful mosaic floors, in the Etruscan style, with scenes of classic theater images. One room contains amazing tempera painted views of the Gulf of Naples. Unfortunately, the many tempera paintings of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, which were documented in other rooms, no longer exist.
Pasquarosa’s paintings did not disappoint. Her early 1910 work was elementary in style, but the colors she used are so vibrant, they bring each piece alive. Her subjects, too, are basic, but lovely. In another room, her paintings from the 1920’s are displayed and you can see how her painting style became more complex. She still used rich paint hues, and similar subjects, but the details within each painting are more in focus. I appreciated most Pasquarosa’s paintings of the 1930’s. Her multi-colored and textured subjects came to life for me. I felt like I was in the room with her, stealing a look over her shoulder at her subjects. She branched out with her subjects as well. There were paintings she had made up until 1959, but none displayed beyond that year. She passed away in 1973, so I don’t know if she continued painting of not, as all of the materials produced for the show are in Italian. There were also half a dozen painted images of Pasquarosa - painted by her husband, Nino Bertoletti, an artist as well. It was truly, a great exhibit.
We left the Casino and planned on exploring the grounds further. We walked as far as the Limonaia and were so charmed, decided to stop for lunch.
The Limonaia (formerly the orangery) is a huge restaurant with outdoor tables in front of the structure, with seating for 50 or so. Inside the restaurant there must be room for 150, but the tables are all outside for our daily 80 degree temperatures. Outside, in the back, is where we were seated with 50 or so others, for lunch. There was seating beyond for at least another 50. I’m guessing on weekends, this place is packed. I can’t wait to take the kids for lunch on a lazy weekend.
The kitchen makes fresh pasta, offers salads, vegetable dishes, desserts and with a wood fired oven, fresh pizza. My husband couldn’t resist the tagliatelle with a creamy lemon sauce. Actually, I wanted it, but I could tell he really wanted it, so I ordered a pasta called paccheri with a tomato, eggplant and Gaeta olive sauce that was just as delicious as the lemon sauce. We also ordered my favorite, cicoria – chicory greens sautéed with a bit of spicy red pepper flakes, garlic and salt. I have yet to find cicoria in the market, but it has to be there somewhere! We decided to skip dessert because we knew we’d have our daily fix of gelato after we met the children at their bus stop.
We wandered over to one of the lakes and campo da tornei (tournament field), then into the grand Casino Nobile – the palazzina Giuseppe Torlonia had built for his family. Much of the architecture remains, however, much has deteriorated over the years. We only made it through the first floor, we will definitely return, so will provide details and better photos in a future post.
Casino Nobile was bestowed upon Mussolini and his family from 1925 to 1943. Mussolini made a few plumbing and central heating improvements to the home. He also had a few underground bunkers built, created a wartime vegetable garden and kept livestock – pigs, chickens and the like. From June of 1944 until 1947, the Allied High Command occupied Villa Torlonia. No improvements were made and the property fell into disrepair until 1977, when the Municipality of Rome purchased it and began a series of restorations.
We realized it was really time to go! We would have over 3 miles to walk to meet the kids at their bus stop. We wish we had left our apartment earlier in the morning, to spend a full day to thoroughly enjoy and explore all of Villa Torlonia. With regret, we left. However, now that we know the history and beauty that await us, we will soon return!
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