Villa Rospigliosi, Baroque villa in Spicchio, Lamporecchio, Italy

Villa Rospigliosi stands in the Spicchio hamlet of Lamporecchio: a tall square central block flanked by two three-storey wings that protrude like truncated towers. Grey pietra serena bands frame the windows, mezzanine levels and cornices, and the entrance stair rises beneath a white marble papal coat of arms. Three elliptical rooms are stacked on the basement, ground and first floors, with spiral staircases at the sides.

Cardinal Giulio Rospigliosi, elected Pope Clement IX in 1667, had the villa built near Spicchio, where his family had found refuge after fleeing Lombardy. The design was traditionally credited to Gian Lorenzo Bernini but was carried out by his pupil Mattia de' Rossi. Clement IX died in 1669, the year work began, and never lived there; his brother Camillo oversaw the project, completed for the family's summer use until the early 1900s.

The oval ground-floor hall carries late-18th- and early-19th-century frescoes of feigned columns, mythological scenes and personified zodiac signs. The Rospigliosi used the villa as a summer residence until the early 20th century, and the painted rooms show the family's standing after Giulio Rospigliosi became Pope Clement IX in 1667.

The property is not always open to visitors since it primarily functions as an event venue. It is best to check ahead whether specific exhibitions or events are accessible for visits.

Two spiral staircases connect three oval rooms arranged on different floors throughout the structure. This layout demonstrates how architects of that era solved spatial challenges with creative design.