Villa Malta

Villa Malta, also called Villa Malta o delle Rose, is home to the Grand Priory in Rome of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church which remains a sovereign entity. It also hosts the embassy of the Order to the Holy See and the embassy to Italy. [ [http://www.orderofmalta.org/archiviofoto.asp?idlingua=5&pagina=4 OrderOfMalta.org] ] The estate is one of two properties belonging to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, with the other being Palazzo Malta.

The Villa is arguably most well known for a keyhole through which the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica, the center of Roman Catholicism, can be viewed. [ [http://www.andrewpatton.com/rome.html AndrewPatton.com] ] The Villa is located on Aventine Hill. It was featured in a painting entitled [http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=L851 The Villa Malta, Rome] by Frederic Leighton. The Villa was granted extraterritoriality in 1869 by Italy. [ [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Malta_knights.htm WorldStatesmen.org] ]

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