Who We Are
Villa Il Cardinale is the perfect place to spend a peaceful and memorable holiday with family or friends.
We also host events, weddings, yoga retreats and holiday rentals.
The Villa has a large and beautiful garden with 1st Century AD archaeological remains, a salt water swimming pool, air conditioned bedrooms, and a vegetable patch.
There are 7 bedrooms (of which 5 are double), 6 bathrooms, 6 fireplaces, a large kitchen (two other smaller kitchens can be adapted with their separate living quarters) and boasts some of the best sunsets/sunrises in town.
History
This is a very special home, originally a 1st Century AD Roman imperial residence. There are archaeological remains in the upper garden that form part of the National Collection of Archeology in the archives of the Museo Palazzo Altemps in the centre of Rome, near Piazza Navona.
The walls in the upper garden date back to the 1st Century AD, era of the Emperor Augustus.The lower garden walls, like the one surrounding the patio, as well as the one in the cellar, date back to the 3rd Century AD, era of the Emperor Maxentius, who reigned from 306-312).
We have full historical documentation at the villa available for our guests. The Villa has undergone several transformations, from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, through to the 18th Century, when it became the hunting lodge of a Cardinal and a member of the Torlonia family, hence the name Il Cardinale.
Highlights
Il Cardinale is ideal for lovers of style and space in the close vicinity of Rome.
The Villa has many highlights including a vast master bedroom with a Caesar size bed that has a free-standing bathtub, a terrace that looks out onto the gardens, a large walk-in-shower bathroom, a marble fireplace and a dressing room.
The other bedrooms, with their en-suite modern bathrooms with walk-in showers, are decorated to the highest standards.
The Villa contains two elegant reception rooms with splendid marble and stone fireplaces as well as a large kitchen with its own grand stone fireplace. There is one further lovely fireplace in the library making 5 fireplaces in all.
The Villa’s high ceilings (some vaulted), its wonderful portico, the patio with a large bbq, the outdoor pool and a covered platform for events or for yoga retreats are also beautiful details.
Our USP
"All Roads lead to Rome"
This is a truly unique property because those who come to Rome do so for the very reasons why and how this house was built in the 1st Century AD. Its walls and stones speak of Roman history, of its multiple layers through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, up to the 20th Century. Every single mosaic stone in the garden bears the memory of Imperial Rome, its rise and its decadence.
This villa is all this and yet it is only two steps away from the ring-road (GRA) that connects to all Roman roads, VIa Salaria, VIa Flaminia, Via Cassia, Via Tiburtina. As we all know: "All Roads lead to Rome"
