The Sovereign Order of Malta is one of the oldest institutions of Western and Christian civilization. The Magistral Villa, located on the Aventine Hill in Rome, is one of the two institutional seats of the government of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Along with Magistral Palace. The Villa enjoys rights of extraterritoriality and serves as the seat of the Grand Priory of Rome, one of the oldest institutions of the members of the Order of Malta. It also houses the Sovereign Order’s Embassy to the Italian Republic.

The Magistral Villa attracts visitors from far and wide who scale the Aventine Hill to peer through its celebrated ‘Buco della Serratura’; a keyhole framing the dome of St Peter’s Basilica.

The Magistral Villa also boasts an artistic treasure: its church, Santa Maria in Aventino, is the only architectural example by the famed artist and engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778). In 1764 Piranesi created the square, Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta, and the Church with highly decorative motifs relating the history and traditions of the Order.

within walking distance