Villa Sciarra occupies 7 hectares in Rome across the neighbourhoods of Trastevere and Monteverde vecchio. It belonged to the Barberini family from the mid 17th century who restored the casino nobile to its original design. Ownership passed to the Sciarras, a noble papal family, in the 19th century, who enlarged it before losing it as the result of financial speculation. In the mid 19th century, it was severely damaged in the fighting between the Italian army, led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, and the French.
It was bought in 1902 by Giorgio Wurts, a garden-loving American, and his wife, Henrietta Tower. Intent on recreating the scenario of an Italian Baroque villa, the Wurts placed several 18th century statues from the Visconti Castle in Brignano d'Adda, near Bergamo in the grounds. They also had a small, neogothic castle (now the museum of mathematics) built and a viewing point with a loggia. In 1930, following the death of her husband, Henrietta Wurts donated the villa to Benito Mussolini intending that it become a public park. In the first decade of the 2000s, work restored the splendour of the casino nobile, the nymphaeum and various fountains including the fountain of the satyrs and the fountain of Diana and Endymion.
Roma Lazio Film Commission
Via Parigi 11 – 00185, Roma
Phone: +39 06 72286273/320
Fax: +39 06 722 1127
Email: info@romalaziofilmcommission.it
