The Villa Farnese (also called Palazzo Farnese) in Caprarola, a few kilometres east of Lake Vico, is one of the most impressive Renaissance palaces in Italy and one of the least visited. The pentagonal building, designed by Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in the 1560s, sits on a terraced hill above the town with a monumental staircase approach and an extraordinary circular courtyard at its centre.
The interior frescoes by Taddeo and Federico Zuccari depict Farnese family history in a series of richly painted rooms, including the famous Sala dei Mappamondo (Hall of the Globes) with its hand-painted world maps. The surrounding formal gardens include a "secret garden" — a secluded nymphaeum with fountains and grotesque stone figures. This is a major piece of 16th-century architecture that deserves more visitors than it gets.