A wartime air-raid shelter and bunker built by Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini reopen to visitors on Friday following renovation works and the addition of a new multimedia exhibition. The underground complex is located below the Casino Nobile in the grounds of Villa Torlonia, the private residence of Mussolini and his family from 1929 until 1943, in Rome's Nomentano district.
Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri on Thursday inaugurated the newly reopened site, describing it as "a challenging place that fittingly is accessible, another piece in the recovery of places in the history of our city." The bunker site features an audio-visual display of archive images of Mussolini and his family in the villa, as well as footage of the aftermath of Allied bombings in Rome.
