Villa Torlonia, San Mauro Pascoli

San Mauro Pascoli, Emilia-Romagna · Country estate · Museum

At a glance

A long stone front behind a circle of grass, and behind it a brick courtyard the size of a village square. Villa Torlonia was the seat of the Torlonia family’s Romagna estate, and between 1862 and 1867 the Pascoli family lived in one of its outbuildings: Ruggero Pascoli was the estate steward. On the evening of 10 August 1867 he was driving home from Cesena when he was shot dead from the roadside. His son Giovanni was eleven. The murder was never solved, and the date became one of the best-known poems in Italian.

Key facts

Estate bought by Alessandro Torlonia: 1828
The Pascoli family lived here: 1862–1867, in an outbuilding of the villa
Ruggero Pascoli, estate steward, killed: 10 August 1867, driving back from Cesena
The crime was never solved
Acquired by the Comune di San Mauro Pascoli: 1983, followed by long restoration
Now: the Museo Multimediale Pascoliano, part of the Parco Poesia Pascoli
Also known as: Torre San Mauro, from the tower over the courtyard
Coordinates: 44.112397, 12.436072

What you see

The villa presents a plain three-storey front in warm stone, with a belvedere tower over the centre and a single balcony above the door. In front of it a wide circle of grass, in a gravel court: the arrangement of a working estate rather than a pleasure villa.

Behind, the courtyard is the surprise. Brick ranges on three sides with arcades at ground level, and a cobbled surface wide enough to turn a cart in — the yard of an agricultural business that ran a large part of the Romagna plain. The Pascoli family lived along one of these ranges.

The date on the gate is the one that matters. 10 August 1867 is the evening Ruggero Pascoli was shot; forty years later his son wrote X Agosto, which turns the murder into a falling star and a swallow that never gets home to the nest. The poem is learned by heart in Italian schools, and this is the road it is about.

The estate today

The three-storey stone façade of Villa Torlonia lit at night, with a balcony over the central door — Three storeys, a balcony over the door, and no ornament to speak of: the house of an estate that was a business. Photo: Luigi De Marchi

A large cobbled courtyard surrounded by brick ranges with arcades, wet and lit at night — The courtyard behind: brick ranges on three sides, arcades at ground level, and cobbles wide enough to turn a cart. The Pascoli family lived along one of these wings. Photo: Luigi De Marchi

The lit arcades of the courtyard ranges at Villa Torlonia, reflected in the wet cobbles — The arcades under the ranges, where the work of the estate was done. Photo: Luigi De Marchi

Practical information

Check opening times and access with the managing body before travelling.

Sources

Parco Poesia Pascoli — Villa Torlonia: the Torlonia estate, the Pascoli family as stewards, the 1983 acquisition by the municipality and the multimedia museum
Comune di San Mauro Pascoli
Castelli dell’Emilia-Romagna — Villa Torlonia, San Mauro Pascoli

Record researched and written by Luigi De Marchi for Cultural Heritage Online, 2026.

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Villa Torlonia, San Mauro Pascoli — the Estate Where Pascoli Lost His Father