Constructed in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries by the renowned Genoese marquis and banker Paolo Girolamo Torre, the building, now known as Palazzina Belvedere, was originally intended as his private residence in the area between Via Aurelia Antica and Porta Cavalleggeri.

In addition, a picture gallery featuring classicist and mythological themes was installed, showcasing works by Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari, Benedetto Luti, and other artists from the circle of the Accademia di San Luca.

The villa also played a significant historical role: on August 22, 1700, it hosted a meeting of bishops in preparation for the nearby conclave, which was convened due to the illness of Pope Innocent XII, who would pass away on September 27 that same year.

Feroni commissioned the Florentine architect Alessandro Galilei to renovate the complex with new furnishings that reflected contemporary tastes; in addition to the classic religious vestments required in clerical homes, the walls were adorned with rich Chinese papers, embracing the emerging vogue for chinoiserie.

The Battle of the Janiculum in 1849, fought between the French army and the troops of the Roman Republic, severely damaged the building, marking a turning point in its history.

[3] Prince Abamelek-Lazarev, descended from an aristocratic Georgian family of Armenian origin, had built his fortune through banking and the exploitation of salt mines in Russia’s Perm region.

By acquiring neighboring vineyards and farmhouses, he expanded the estate and enriched the nineteenth-century landscape garden with a substantial collection of ancient sculptures, including an Etruscan sarcophagus, various statues and busts, as well as seventeenth-century pieces.