Why I Was Surprised You Can Tour Mussolini’s WWII Bunker

Recently, I was caught off guard by a CNN Travel article about Mussolini’s World War II bunker opening to the public. Why? I’m not entirely sure, but I think it has to do with Hitler.

When I think about the “bad guys” of WWII, I often forget it was plural. While Adolf Hitler was the mastermind who orchestrated the start of WWII in his quest for world domination, he wasn’t alone. Italy’s dictator, Benito Mussolini, and Japan’s Emperor Hirohito joined him. Together, they formed the Axis powers. (A few other countries also joined the Axis coalition, but Germany, Italy, and Japan dominated it.)

Also, Hitler is the one who history seems to talk about most. Likely because he was WWII’s evil genius. After all, having a notion about committing mass genocide is one thing, but to actually rally others to help you implement it? And then there was the whole invading other countries thing, which he successfully did for a few years. (Until Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union came together to form the Grand Alliance, a.k.a. the Allied forces, and stopped him.)

Then there’s the fact Italy doesn’t come first to mind when I think of WWII dark tourist destinations. Auschwitz (Poland), Hiroshima (Japan), Pearl Harbor (United States), and Normandy (France) usually do. So I guess it was both exciting and interesting to learn about Mussolini’s World War II bunker.

Villa Torlonia: Mussolini’s Home

Dark history dwells beneath the picturesque grounds of Villa Torlonia in Rome. Mussolini called the villa, which is located on the property, home from 1925 to 1943. During that time, he also added an underground bunker, inspired by Hitler’s wartime refuge.

Well, technically, there were two completed bunkers, including a converted wine cellar, which was first used as a bunker in 1940. The Casino Nobile is among the buildings you’ll find on the grounds of Villa Torlonia, and it’s where the other two bunkers are. They put an air raid shelter in the basement in 1941. Work began on an armored bunker under the ground in front of the Casino Nobile in 1942. It wasn’t quite finished when Mussolini was arrested in 1943.

According to the CNN Travel article, the bunker first opened to the public in 2006 for a couple of years. It was temporarily open on and off until 2021 when it stayed closed until this year. Now the air raid shelter and the almost-completed bunker are open for guided tours.

Inside Mussolini’s WWII Bunker

The tour of the bunker takes about 50 minutes and sounds terrifying. I mean, mostly it sounds interesting. It includes “a multimedia exhibition about Rome during World War II,” and lots of details about the 1943 bombing of the San Lorenzo neighborhood where 3,000 civilians were killed.

But then the article included this detail, which sent a chill up my spine: “[T]hey experience a recreated air raid in Mussolini’s unfinished bunker.” (“They” meaning tour-goers.)

That’s what made my heart race. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Is it loud?”

I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older or what, but loud noises bother me immensely anymore. Tight spaces underground? Also not a fan. I can tolerate them, but mild claustrophobia is another thing I find myself contending with in my advanced years.

And yet…all of that is precisely why I’d be drawn to the Villa Torlonia and a tour of Mussollini’s bunker. That, and because I’m interested in WWII history. What about you? Is this someplace you’d visit on a trip to Rome?

Boo-k It!

For more info, visit https://museivillatorlonia.it/en/infopage/villa-torlonia.

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Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.