2024-02-15 16:02:02
The Italian prince Carlo Torlonia, heir to the noble family of the same name, is accused of insults and violence against his wife. “You are an idiot and stupid. You have to take care of the house, what are you doing here,” the prince said to his wife, who is also a princess. However, the man treated her like a servant, according to her.
According to “Republika”, the trial against the prince in the Roman prosecutor’s office was already in its final phase, and the court must decide whether there really was domestic violence. According to the investigation, the prince did not limit himself to insults that his wife endured in silence. There was also physical aggression, according to his wife. The first time this happened was during a vacation on the island of Ponza, when the prince climbed on top of his wife and pressed his knees to her chest, then tried to strangle her. During another seaside holiday in Fregenne, near Rome, he again committed violence, this time gripping her wrists so tightly that he almost broke her wrists.
This was the final straw – it was after this incident that the woman decided to file a complaint against her husband with the police. The prince’s lawyer refused to comment on the news about the investigation against him to “Republika”. On April 8, the Court in Rome is due to announce its decision.
The Torlonia are a noble Roman family whose history dates back centuries, and their wealth is estimated at nearly 2 billion euros. However, the four heirs have been at war over the succession since the death in 2017 of the head of the family, Prince Alessandro Torlonia. His children disputed wealth, including large and sumptuous villas with parks and stately buildings. Among them is the Palazzo Torlonia on Via della Conciliazione, next to the Vatican, as well as the beautiful building known as “Villa Albani” in Rome. The eldest son, Carlo Torlonia, sued for the alleged sale of properties by his sisters Francesca and Paola and his brother Giulio, which was “conducted” by his nephew Alexander, Paola’s son. Carlo announced in court that 623 ancient statues owned by the noble family were at the center of a deal between his nephew and the Getty Museum. According to this is how the debts of Banca del Fucino, in which they have Torlonia shares, were to be repaid.
In Rome, the park named Torlonia is much loved because of the villa of that name in it. It houses Mussolini’s former residence, the House of the Cuckoos, a theater, a bunker and galleries.
With its English-style gardens, museums and avenues lined with 6 types of palm trees, the 132,000 square meter park is truly charming.
In the park of “Villa Torlonia” there is also an artificial lake, a theater, obelisks, a lemon garden. The Casino Nobile, the Casino dei Principi and the House of the Cuckoos are especially fascinating, functioning as galleries and museums. Theater productions are often presented in the theater of the park.
“Villa Torlonia” was born in 1842 at the request of Alessandro Torlonia. It was only at the beginning of the 20th century, however, that it acquired its modern appearance. All over the world, “Villa Torlonia” is known mostly as the residence of Benito Mussolini – the dictator rents the main building in the park – Casino Nobile, for the symbolic rent of 1 lira Giovanni Torlonia Jr., son of Prince Alessandro Torlonia.
Mussolini lived in it between 1925 and 1943. Many Italians know it painfully from television – it was among the decor of this residence, sealed in black and white tapes from that period, that Mussolini held most of his meetings with various heads of state.
From the gates of “Villa Torlonia” he congratulated the Italians at his wedding and Mussolini’s daughter – Eda.
Mussolini on horseback, Mussolini playing tennis, Mussolini celebrating – the black and white shots of him are all from this villa.
In other words, the villa is a part of Italian history. Today, Romans, lovers of sports and jogging, entering the park, walk not only around the former residence of Mussolini, but also around the theater, as well as around the fairy-tale-looking House of the Cuckoos.
The Casino dei Principi, the house of the princes, is today also the seat of an important collection of Italian art from the 20th century. Palazzo Nobile, the noble building that is visible as soon as you enter the central entrance of the park from Via Nomentana, was realized by Prince Alessandro Torlonia in 30 the years of the 19th century
The building is designed by arch. Valadier, whose idea is also the Piazza del Popolo.
Prince Torlonia chooses interiors and decorations, taking inspiration from antiquity. The atmosphere, the imitations of antiquity, the ruins that characterize “Villa Torlonia” are practically a mirror of the tastes and styles prevailing in Europe at that time. Each room in the building is different from the other, each has its own style and recalls different atmospheres and historical periods – from Nero and Alexander the Great to Cleopatra. The bathroom of Venus also looks quite strange.
It is not by chance that the representatives of the rich Torlonia family during that period were considered the upstarts of the Roman aristocracy.
There is also an anti-missile hideout and a bunker in the park – it was built at the time by Mussolini and is 6.5 m underground. Its reinforced concrete walls are 4 m thick.