Tag: palazzo in Rome

Palazzo del Quirinale is a historic palace in Rome, located on the homonymous hill, overlooking the homonymous square. The palace was the official residence of the King of Italy since 1870, and is the residence of the President of the Italian Republic since 1946.   SHORT HISTORY Before the construction of the Quirinal Palace, on this site was a building known as Villa di Monte Cavallo, one of the Roman residences of Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este. In 1583, Pope Gregory XIII began an expansion of the villa, to make it a real summer residence. The project was entrusted to the architect Ottaviano Mascherino and the works were completed in 1585. The successor of Gregory XIII, Pope Sixtus V, decided in 1587 to buy the villa with the intention of making it the summer residence of the pontiff. With the help of the architect Domenico Fontana, he expanded the palace and remodeled the entire area. Pope Paul V was the pontiff who commissioned the completion of the works on the main building of the Quirinale. He entrusted the extension work to Flaminio Ponzio, who built the wing facing the garden, Sala del Concistoro and Cappella dell’Annunziata (Chapel of the Annunciation). After Read more [...]

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 Read more [...]

Palazzo Latmiral is a palace in Rome, located in Via della Conciliazione, between Palazzo Torlonia and the Church of Santa Maria in Traspontina. The palace currently houses the Embassy of Brazil to the Holy See.   SHORT HISTORY Palazzo Latmiral was built in 1887 for Giuseppe Latmiral, on a project by the architect Agide Spinedi. At the time of its construction, the palace incorporated into its eastern facade overlooking Vicolo del Campanile a 15th-century house with three floors known as Casa del Boia. The house has semicircular windows and a frescoed facade by the painter Giulio Romano. In the first decades of the 20th century, the palace was renovated by the architects Marcello Piacentini and Attilio Spaccarelli.   HOW TO GET THERE The closest Metro station is Ottaviano, located about 1 kilometer away, on the Metro Line A. The closest bus stop is Traspontina/Conciliazione, located about 120 meters away, on the bus Lines 23, 40 and 982.

Palazzo Torlonia, also known as Palazzo Castellesi or Palazzo del Corneto, is a Renaissance palace in Rome, located in Via della Conciliazione, near Palazzo dei Convertendi.   SHORT HISTORY The palace was built between 1499 and 1517 for Cardinal Adriano Castellesi, an important dignitary of the papal court. The project of the building was attributed to Donato Bramante. The building was built in Piazza Scossacavalli, in the context of the redevelopment of the entire urban sector, after the opening of the new Via Alessandrina. In 1504, the Cardinal Castellesi handed the palace to Henry VII, King of England. Later, Henry VII gave the building to Lorenzo Campeggio, the last Cardinal Protector of England, who lived in the palace between 1519 and 1524. Between 1609 and 1635, the palace was owned by the Borghese family. In 1760, it was named Palazzo Giraud, when it became the property of a French family of bankers. In 1820, the palace was purchased by the Torlonia family. Palazzo Torlonia is the only historic palace in the area which remained untouched during the works for the construction of Via della Conciliazione, in the first decades of the 20th century.   ARCHITECTURE Palazzo Torlonia has a facade Read more [...]

Palazzo dei Convertendi, also known as Palazzo della Congregazione per le Chiese Orientali (Palace of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches), is a Renaissance palace in Rome, located in Via della Conciliazione, adjacent to Palazzo Rusticucci-Accoramboni.   SHORT HISTORY Around the middle of the 15th century, on the northwestern edge of Piazza Scossacavalli, there was a building known as della Stufa. In the 16th century, the building was sold to the noble Caprini family, who erected in its place a palace on a design by Donato Bramante. The palace was sold in 1517 to the painter Raphael, who died in the building in 1520. On his death, the building was sold to Cardinal Pietro Accolti. After the Cardinal’s death, the palace was inherited by his nephew Benedetto, Cardinal of Ravenna. Accused of corruption, Benedetto was incarcerated in Castel Sant’Angelo, and released after paying his debts. For this, the Cardinal borrowed the sum from the Florentine bankers Giulio and Lorenzo Strozzi, who later obtained the palace. Then, the Strozzi family sold the collapsing palace to Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Commendone. The Cardinal had the palace restored by Annibale Lippi, and sold the building in 1584 to Camilla Peretti, sister of Pope Sixtus Read more [...]

Palazzo Rusticucci-Accoramboni is a Late Renaissance palace in Rome, located in Via della Conciliazione, about 120 meters away from Piazza San Pietro.   SHORT HISTORY Girolamo Rusticucci, secretary of Pope Pius V and later cardinal, bought a building on March 31, 1572. Rusticucci also bought some nearby buildings, with the aim of expanding the original structure. In 1584, Rusticucci commissioned Domenico Fontana to design a larger palace. After the death of Pope Sixtus V, Fontana was transfered to Naples, and the works were completed by his nephew, Carlo Maderno. Around 1630, the Nazarene College, one of the oldest schools in Rome, was housed in the palace for a short time. Around the middle of the 17th century, the cardinal’s heirs sold the palace to the Accoramboni family. In 1667, the construction of the colonnade in Piazza San Pietro by Gian Lorenzo Bernini made it necessary to demolish the last block of houses located in front of the square. Its demolition created a new square, bordered on the north side by Palazzo Rusticucci, which gave it its name. In the 20th century, the palace became the seat of the Belgian Historical Institute, and then it was occupied by the Congregation of Read more [...]

Palazzo del Laterano is a Renaissance palace in Rome, located in Piazza di Porta San Giovanni, adjacent to the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. The palace was the official residence of the Roman pontiffs for many centuries. Today, it houses the Papal State Historical Museum (Museo Storico dello Stato Pontificio), the offices of the Vicariate of Rome and the apartment of the Cardinal Vicar of His Holiness for Rome.   SHORT HISTORY The area was named after the original owners, the Plauzi Laterani family, who owned a large palace on this site. After a member of this family, designated consul, was accused around the year 66 of conspiracy against Nero, the properties of the family, together with the adjoining palace, were confiscated. At the beginning of the 4th century, the monumental Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano was built, and consecrated in 324 by Pope Sylvester I. Around the middle of the 8th century, Pope Zacharias built a triclinium (formal dining room) in the ancient Lateran Palace, and decorated it with marble, glass and precious metals, mosaics and frescoes. A few decades later, Pope Leo III built another triclinium, and installed, in the center of the room paved with Read more [...]

Palazzo delle Scuderie del Quirinale (Palace of the Quirinal Stables) is a palace in Rome, located in the southern area of Piazza del Quirinale, on the opposite side of Palazzo del Quirinale.   SHORT HISTORY Palazzo delle Scuderie del Quirinale was built between 1722 and 1732 on a piece of land owned by the Colonna family, close to another building owned by the same family, the beautiful Palazzo Colonna. The project of the current palace belongs to the architect Alessandro Specchi, who was commissioned by Pope Innocent XIII to design a building intended to replace the previous one built in the early 18th century by Carlo Fontana. When Innocent XIII died, in 1730, the new Pope Clement XII entrusted Ferdinando Fuga with the task of completing the work. The building maintained its original function as a stable until 1938, the year in which it was transformed into a garage. In the 1980s, the palace was transformed into a museum of carriages. Between 1997 and 1999, it was completely restored to a design by the Friulian architect Gae Aulenti, in time for the Jubilee of the year 2000. Designed as an important exhibition space of about 1,500 square meters, it was Read more [...]

Palazzo di Giustizia is the seat of the Supreme Court of Cassation of Italy, located in Piazza Cavour, in Rome. The palace is commonly called the Palazzaccio (Bad Palace), due to its unusual dimensions, excessive decorations and laborious construction, which led, at the beginning of the 20th century, to the suspicion of corruption.   SHORT HISTORY The palace, one of the major works created after the proclamation of Rome as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, was built between 1889 and 1911 by the architect Guglielmo Calderini from Perugia. The official inauguration of the works, with the laying of the first stone, took place on the afternoon of March 14, 1889, in the presence of the sovereigns Umberto I and Margherita. The palace was inaugurated 22 years after the beginning of the works, in the presence of the King Vittorio Emanuele III, on January 11, 1911. At the end of the 1960s, the cracks and collapses increased, a commission of specialists was established to decide the fate of the monument, and most of them called for its demolition. However, the demolition cost was enormous, and it was decided to save the palace. In the 1970s, the palace underwent a Read more [...]

Palazzo della Consulta is a Baroque palace in Rome, located in Piazza del Quirinale, between Palazzo del Quirinale and Palazzo delle Scuderie del Quirinale. The palace houses the Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic since 1955.   SHORT HISTORY The palace rises on the remains of the Baths of Constantine, on the southern slope of the Quirinal Hill, replacing a previous building erected under Pope Sixtus V by Cardinal Ferrero da Vercelli to house the Sacred Congregation of the Consulta (Papal State Council) and then expanded by Pope Paul V in the early 17th century. The current palace, which was completed in 1737 under the direction of the architect Ferdinando Fuga, was commissioned by Pope Clement XII to house both the headquarters of the secretariat of the Sacred Congregation of the Consulta and Signatura dei Brevi, both the corps of Cavalrymen and that of the Noble Guard (Corazze). Between 1798 and 1814, the palace was the seat of the Prefecture of Rome, and starting with 1849, during the Roman Republic, it was the seat of the Government of the triumvirate of Giuseppe Mazzini, Carlo Armellini and Aurelio Saffi. After the annexation of Rome, between 1871 and 1874, the hereditary Prince Read more [...]