Caprarola

Caprarola is a town and comune in the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of central Italy. The village is situated in a range of volcanic hills known as the Cimini Mounts.

The town is home to the large Renaissance mansion or villa which dominates the surrounding country-side, Villa Farnese. Not to be confused with the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, it was initially built as a fortress, as the town and the surrounding area was a feud of the House of Farnese, by the cardinal Alessandro Farnese senio in 1530, according to a project of the architect Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. After only four years the project came to a halt when the cardinal was elected pope in 1534 under the name Paul III.