Villa Albani Torlonia

A magnificent 18th-century villa and garden built for Cardinal Alessandro Albani, holding one of the world's greatest private collections of ancient sculpture (assembled by Albani with the help of Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the founder of art history). The villa and garden remain in private hands and are normally closed to the public — visits are possible only by special academic permission. Listed for completeness, as the gardens and villa are among Rome's most important historic estates.