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Photo: Giuseppe Vasi, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
A magnificent patrician house with beautiful gardens. It was built by order of Cardinal Alessando Albani in 1743-1763 in order to accommodate his collection of art. The collection was taken care of by the Winkelmann, adviser and friend of the cardinal. In Rome, Winkelmann wrote his "Geschichte der Kunst des Altertumns (HIstory of the Art of Antiquity)", which made him the founder of classical archaeology. The painted ceiling of the great hall depicting Mount Parnassus is by the German painter Anton Raphael Mengs who was considered as the greatest painter in Rome in the 18th century. A permission to visit is to be requested by email or fax from Principi Torlonia's administration where you'd need to indicate date and time desired, your name and number of people in your party (max. 10).
The Villa Albani is a villa in Rome, built on the Via Salaria for Cardinal Alessandro Albani. It was built between 1747 and 1767 by the architect Carlo Marchionni in a project heavily influenced by others – such as Giovanni Battista Nolli, Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Johann Joachim Winckelmann – to house Albani's collection of antiquities, curated by Winckelmann. The villa has been conserved intact into the 21st century by the Torlonia Family, who bought it in 1866. In 1870, the treaty following the Capture of Rome from the Papal States was signed here.
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Museo d'Arte Contemporanea di Roma
Rome's museum of contemporary art, housed in a former industrial complex. Rotating exhibitions, each one usually lasting about 4 months. The MACRO Testaccio exhibition space is located in Aventino-Testaccio.
With its strange Liberty- style buildings with influence from the Art Nouveau of the 1920s this small bunch of blocks is one of the most interesting, and less known, landmarks of the city. A must see.
Galleria Borghese
Borghese Gallery and Museum is a lovely display in a beautiful villa setting, which concentrates on the quality rather than the size of its collection. There are some very notable works by Antonio Canova and Gian Lorenzo Bernini here, Bernini's Apollo and Daphneis quite amazing. It also houses some of Caravaggio paintings, well worth the admission charge. Originally, the gallery was one of the most magnificent private art collections in the world. It was founded by Cardinal Scipione Borghese. At the beginning of the 19th century, Prince Camillo Borghese sold great parts of the collections to Paris where today they belong to the most valuable exhibits of the Louvre. Since 1902 the villa and the gallery are owned by the Italian state. The number of people admitted is limited to 360 every 2 hours, so it is best to make a well in advance for the time slot you want. Cameras and photography are allowed. Plan to arrive at the museum at least 15 minutes prior to your entry time, to obtain your ticket from Will Call and to deposit purses, strollers, backpacks, bottles, and other bulky items in the cloak room. If you are late for your reservation the museum may not allow you to use your ticket.
The extensive Borghese Gardens are a pleasant place to stroll. Inside this area you will find one of the world's great museums, Rome's Zoo, a pond where you can rent a rowing boat and the Piazza di Siena, which hosts an annual show jumping event.
The renamed Rome Zoo, one of the oldest in Europe, founded in 1911. On the edge of the Borghese Gardens, a short, well-signposted walk from the Gallery. They try hard, but San Diego this isn't. If you are a regular zoo-goer you will be disappointed.