Hidden away in the grounds of Villa Torlonia - off the tourist trail - is a remarkably unexpected building that seems to have fallen straight out of a fairytale. Known as the Casina delle Civette, or the little house of the owls, this curious complex was designed originally, in 1840, as a "Swiss cabin" for Prince Alessandro Torlonia.

However the casina later underwent significant changes, transformed into the style of a "mediaeval hamlet" at the request of Prince Giovanni Torlonia the younger, who lived there until his death in 1938.