The wealthy and powerful Farnese family took over the sleepy village of Caprarola in the 1500s and endowed it with a palace that rivals the great residences of Rome. The magnificent 16th-century Palazzo Farnese started life as a fortress, which explains the unusual pentagonal structure, built with former watchtowers on each corner. Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the grandson of Pope Paul III, commissioned Vignola to transform his family's austere keep into a residence that would serve as a showplace where he could dazzle guests. One of the most impressive features is the spiral Grand Stairway connecting the Portal of Honors with the cardinal's domain on the piano nobile -- a magnificent span that was wide enough for His Eminence to ride his horse right up to his bedchamber. Although there aren't many furnishings (true to Renaissance fashion), the staircase walls and all the palace rooms are covered with frescoes painted by the leading Mannerist artists of the day, one of whom was Taddeo Zuccero. The surrounding park contains many of the elements of a typical Renaissance garden, with formal shrubbery and paths, rows of sculpted herms, and cascades and fountains where the Farnese court could dine in the cool of the evening, listening to the refreshing sound of running water.