Villa Sora

The Villa stands on the site of the old Roman Way (the current Via Tuscolana). The land it was built on was certainly part of the famous "Tusculano" of Licio Licinio Lucullo (117 - 57 BC) and later of the Villa of Saverio Sulpicio Galba (Emperor of Rome from 68 to 69 AD).

The original construction consisted of a simple farmhouse. Its construction began in the mid-16th century, and the building was called "Torricella". The same name it is referred to on a Bertelli's print, dating from the early 17th century.

Both the building and the surrounding land belonged to the monks of the "Sancta Sanctorum" chapel in Rome, and the earliest information dates back to 1546, when the "Torricella" was cited in a papal brief by Paul III.

During the second half of the 16th century, the farmhouse underwent several alterations and

enlargements commissioned by the new owners, the Moroni farnily, from Milan. They had the privilege to receive in the restored Villa Gregory XIII and Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, in November 1582. After this visit the Villa was also called "Villa of the Pope" and the coat of arms of the Boncompagni family (the family the Pope belonged to) was put on the main entrance.

During the 17th century Bartolomeo Moroni sold the Villa to Giacomo Boncompagni, Duke of Sora (Gregory XIII's natural son), who went to live there together with his wife Costanza Sforza di Santa Fiora.

Nowadays it hosts a Salesian school.