Here are some photos of the Casino Nobile in Villa Torlonia, the last real princely residence owned by a noble family. A further reason to come to Rome and to understand how the Eternal City is worthy of the name, even because the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries are noteworthy periods. And here is a very valid reason!

For example let's think about the Torlonia family which, already at the beginning of the 19th century made themselves respected in the Roman world, for being skilled bankers, capable of generating a large volume of money. And so, following the traditions of all the other noble families which lived in Rome, the Tolornia's decided to spend a lot of money in order to create a wonderful and gorgeous residence. For this reason, they bought the Colonna vineyard at the end of the 18th century (memory of another noble family not yet decayed), and Giovanni Torlonia commissioned to Giuseppe Valadier, an architect very much in vogue at the time, to rearrange and expand the old villa owned by the Colonna family. And, therefore, Valadier worked his way up, building new avant-cores, porches and terraces, to make the entire residence even more sumptuous. As you can see from these photos, no expense is spared to embellish every single room: paintings, stuccoes and polychrome marbles make the entire villa bright and precious, embellished by the so-called "Ballroom", illuminated by a large central window located on the ceiling, with the light filtering from above to refract on the numerous mirrors placed along the walls of the room. Even Canova participated with his art, to embellish the whole, specially making 10 bas-reliefs in white marble. These great names, just mentioned here, denote the extraordinary importance that a client of this kind had. Being called by the Torlonia to work in their residence was an honor, just as the Torlonia family relied on more than established masters to underline their social prestige.

It should also be said that on Giovanni's death, it was his son Alessandro Torlonia who commissioned the artist Caretti for the interiors! Furthermore, let's not forget how the Torlonia family have been protagonists in the history of Rome and Italy, counting among their members even mayors of the city. Consequently, the Casino Nobile became the spearhead of the family which, with pride of course, could show its prestige to the whole city through a magnificent building in terms of proportions and sense of taste. All the rooms have been treated down to the smallest detail, and each is embellished and decorated in such a way as not to be exaggerated, thus maintaining a balance and without any excess in luxury. And everyone certainly loved spending their days, visiting or even just taking a look at the flagship of the Torlonia family: the Casino Nobile in Rome!