Government
Exploring Mussolini's Secret Bunkers
The city-owned Villa Torlonia will now offer tours inside the former dictator's hideouts.
A typical visit to the Villa Torlonia in Rome involves a picnic and a stroll along pine and palm tree-dotted grounds. Starting this weekend, tourists can explore the secret hiding grounds beneath their feet that Il Duce built for himself.
Built in the early 20th century, the Villa Torlonia housed Benito Mussolini and his wife and children from 1925 to 1943. In 1940, one year into World War II, the Italian dictator had an old wine cellar at his Neo-Classical estate turned into an air-raid shelter.