Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali

Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali is a Neo-Renaissance palace in Rome, located on the eastern side of Piazza Venezia, opposite the much older Palazzo Venezia.

SHORT HISTORY

The palace was built between 1906 and 1911 on the site of the ancient Palazzo Bolognetti-Torlonia and Palazzo Nepoti.

The previous buildings were demolished at the beginning of the 20th century, to allow the expansion of Piazza Venezia, designed by Giuseppe Sacconi, to adapt it to the presence of the National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II (Vittoriano).

Sacconi outlined the general appearance of the new building, designed in detail by the architect Guido Cirilli, assisted by Arturo Pazzi and Alberto Manassei.

ARCHITECTURE

Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali takes up the fundamental characteristics of Palazzo Venezia, including its square tower.

The facade of the palace is characterized on the ground floor by a portico surmounted by a string course, and by a long series of Romanesque mullioned windows on the second floor, surmounted by small windows.

Between these small windows, above the main portal, there is a 16th century bas-relief depicting the Lion of Saint Mark. The bas-relief was taken from the Portello Novo Tower, in Padua, and it was the symbol of the dominion of the Republic of Venice. In 1797, the French troops of Napoleon Bonaparte threw it into the moat that surrounded the city, and it was recovered later, bought and placed on the palace.

The commercial space at the corner with Via Cesare Battisti hosted the famous Caffè Faraglia, which had the poet Gabriele D’Annunzio among its customers. In 1933, after Mussolini settled in Palazzo Venezia, the café was closed.

HOW TO GET THERE

The closest Metro sation is Colosseo, located about 1 kilometer away, on the Metro Line B. The closest bus stop, Piazza Venezia, is located across the square from the palace, on the bus Lines 51, 60, 63, 80, 83, 85, 118, 160, 170 and 628.