MUSSOLINI'S SECRET BUNKER RE-OPENS

After extensive restoration work, Mussolini's underground air raid shelter and secret bunker, tunnelled under his official residence at Villa Torlonia, Rome, have been re-opened to the public. The shelter, accessed by a stairway leading down from the ballroom of the Casino Nobile, redesigned by Giuseppe Valadier between 1802-06, and now a museum, was converted from an existing cellar at the outset of WW2 and fitted with electric light, air filters, telephone lines and anti-gas sealed security doors.

After Rome was bombed in 1943, Mussolini considered the air raid shelter inadequate and commissioned the adjoining bunker, situated at a depth of 6.5m with 4m-thick reinforced concrete walls. However, he was destined never to make use of it as he was deposed before it was finished.

The new “bunker experience” has been set up with projections from newsreels of the period and special multi-medial effects, that lead visitors through the pre-War period of the Mussolini family residence to the outbreak of the War, with the simulation of a typical bombing attack as experienced in the shelters.

Pre-booked Guided Tours (maximum 20 participants): 060608

Info: www.museovillatorlonia.it villaparchistorici@comune.roma.it