If you are planning a trip to Rome but you have already seen its main tourist attractions or you simply want something more peculiar to discover this is the article for you!
Casina delle Civette
The Casina delle Civette is located within the park of Villa Torlonia and is a former residence of the Torlonia family transformed into a museum.
Dating back to 1840 It was commissioned by Prince Alessandro Torlonia. In 1908 began to undergo a radical change at the behest of Giovanni, grandson of Alessandro, taking the appearance and the name of “Medieval Village”: the small building became a refined residence with loggias, arcades, turrets, majolica decorations and stained glass windows.
Since 1916 the building began to be called “Villino delle Civette” for the stained-glass window with two stylized owls and the almost obsessive recurrence of the owl theme in the decorations and furniture, wanted by Prince John, an esotericism lover.
Centrale Montemartini
The Centrale Montemartini is the second exhibition space of the Capitoline Museums and an extraordinary example of converting an industrial archaeological building into a museum, the first public electricity production plant in Rome. The history of the museum began in 1997 when a group of sculptures and archaeological discoveries were transferred to the power plant.
Thanks to a courageous setup, two different worlds, archaeology and industrial archaeology were brought together.
Cimitero Acattolico
The Non-Catholic Cemetery of Rome is located in the historic Testaccio district and dates back at least to 1716, according to documentation that shows the permission granted by Pope Clement XI, for members of the Stuart Court in exile from England, to be buried in front of the Pyramid. The permission was extended to other non-Catholics.
The cemetery is characterized by a large concentration of artists, writers, scholars and diplomats buried there: the most popular graves of visitors are those of Italian intellectuals Carlo Emilio Gadda, Amelia Rosselli, Andrea Camilleri; English poets John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley; Goethe’s son; Italian political philosopher Antonio Gramsci; Russian painter Karl Brullov.
Basilica of San Clemente
The Basilica of San Clemente in Rome is dedicated to Pope Clemente I and rises in the valley between the Esquilino and the Celio.
The architectural structure is of great importance because it is located above ancient buildings buried two levels deep. The three levels are, from above: the current basilica, medieval and dating back to the twelfth century; the ancient basilica, in a building that was once the home of a Roman patrician; a set of Roman buildings of the post-Neronian period. There’s also a fourth level below the previous ones which has traces of more ancient Roman constructions. Three trips through time with a single ticket.
Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica
According to tradition the king of Rome Anco Marzio founded Ostia in 620 BC to exploit the salt pans at the mouth of the Tiber. With Rome’s dominance over the Mediterranean Ostia lost its military function and became the capital’s main mercantile emporium.
Nowadays the Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica is one of the largest and most important archaeological areas in Italy, second in size only to Pompeii and able to offer visitors an authentic immersion in an incredible ancient Roman city.
