Villa Grazioli

Cardinal Antonio Carafa, deacon of St. Mary in Via Lata, commissioned the building of the Villa. He was an expert in Oriental liturgy and, as a consequence, a protector of the Maronites, the original owners of the land. They gave it to him in 1580.

On Cardinal Carafa's death, in 1591, the Villa was acquired by Cardinal Acquaviva; then, in 1613, Cardinal Scipione bought it for 20.000 scudi.

In 1614 Cardinal Borghese sold it to Cardinal Taverna. The same year he passed it on to Prince Michele Peretti, who lived there together with his brother Alessandro Damasconi Peretti Montalto.

From 1671 the Savelli family owned the Villa; in 1683, it passed to Livio Odescalchi, Duke of Bracciano, who gave it the name of "Villa Bracciano".

Between 1696 and 1698 Oliviero Odescalchi carried out a series of works in order to strengthen the foundations of the building. Between 1723 and 1743 Baldassarre Elia Odescalchi commissioned to

several works for architectural embellishment.

In 1833 the Odescalchi family sold the Villa to the Collegium Propaganda Fide; in 1843 it was acquired by Duke Pio Grazioli. It has been the property of the Grazioli family until a few years ago, when it was bought by private owners who turned it into a hotel.