COLONNA PALACE (first part)

PALAZZO COLONNA

Piazza dei Santi Apostoli 66

About 1420/25 for Martin V Colonna (1417/31) the first pope to return permanently to Rome after the exile in Avignon

The palace was the papal seat from 1420 until 1431

It was built over a preexisting castle of the counts Tuscolani dating back to before the year 1000, in turn built on the ruins of the TEMPLE OF SERAPIS, the largest temple in Rome with the Temple of Venus and Rome

Expanded with the GALLERIA COLONNA from about 1650 by Antonio Del Grande (about 1625/79) and then after 1671 by Girolamo Fontana (1668/1701) (nephew of Carlo Fontana)

Partly rebuilt in 1730 by Nicola Michetti (about 1675/1758) who designed the FAÇADES ON PIAZZA Ss. APOSTOLI and PIAZZA IV NOVEMBRE and by Paolo Posi (1708/76) who designed the BACK OF THE PALACE with the BRIDGES that join it with Villa Colonna

Changes to the façade on Via IV Novembre 1879 by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911)

It has belonged to the Colonna family for twenty-three generations

FORMER COFFEE-HAUS

Small Wax Museum with, on the second floor, ROOM WITH OCTAGONAL VAULT and fresco “Fable of Cupid and Psyche” by Antonio Mancini (1852/1930)

BRASCHI PALACE - MUSEUM OF ROME (eighth part)

The Rospigliosi family

ROOM 4

Extraordinary “Model of the Chapel Pallavicini Rospigliosi in S. Francesco a Ripa church” about 1712 by Nicola Michetti (about 1675/1758)

“Portraits of child masked” (maybe Pietro Banchieri, son of the nephew of Clement IX Rospigliosi - 1667/69) about 1668 maybe by Pierre Ronche

ROOM 5

“Equestrian Portrait of Camillo Rospigliosi” 1737 by Agostino Masucci (1691/1758)

“The choice of the equestrian portrait, while recalling courtly models of the seventeenth century, from Rubens to Van Dyck, in the exact description of the gait of the horse, its harness and Camillo's special clothing, is a faithful document of the art of riding in this period” (Brief Guide to the Museum of Rome)

Various “Portraits of horses” by Johan Reder (1656/1764)

“View of Palazzo Rospigliosi on Quirinal Hill from the East side” 1755, “Celebrations in Maccarese in honor of St. George on May 1st 1756” about 1756 and “Turkish sailors shipwrecked seized in Maccarese” 1756 by the French Adrien Manglard (1695/1760)

Chinoiserie

ROOM 6

Decoration of the room and clothes influenced by eighteenth-century fashion and passion for Chinese décor

“Automatic Organ with cylinders” about 1820/30 by the Viennese Anton Beyer, an extraordinary grandfather of a jukebox

MONUMENTAL COMPLEX OF St. MICHAEL A RIPA GRANDE

COMPLESSO MONUMENTALE DI S. MICHELE A RIPA GRANDE

Porto di Ripa Grande 20

The construction of the original building was carried out in the years 1686/89 by Carlo Fontana (1634/1714) and maybe Mattia De Rossi (1637/95) as a Conservatorio per ragazzi (Orphanage for boys) at the behest of Monsignor Tommaso Odescalchi. It was located right opposite Porta Portese (Portese Gate)

Later it was enlarged again by Carlo Fontana with several sections assembled together ending up being the huge complex visible now:

1693/1701 BUILDING FOR WOOL WEAVING

1701/04 MODEL PRISON FOR BOYS

1706/09 BARRACKS FOR CUSTOM POLICE

1708/13 HOSPICE FOR THE ELDERLY

1710/14 BULDING FOR TAPESTRIES WEAVING and CHIESETTA DELLA MADONNA DEL BUON VIAGGIO (Small Church of the Virgin Mary for the good journey) so called because before leaving Rome from Porta Portese one could stop and say a prayer

1710/15 CHIESA DI S. MICHELE (St. Michael Church) left unfinished and then completed in the years 1831/35 by Luigi Poletti

In the years 1714/15 EXTRA FLOORS were added to the façade facing the river, completed only after Carlo Fontana's death

In 1719 Nicola Michetti (about 1675/1758) took over the direction of the works and designed in the years 1719/29 the CONSERVATORIO DELLE ZITELLE (Hostel for widowers) completed in the eastern part in the years 1790/97 by Nicolò Forti

1734/35 FEMALE PRISON by Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782) for Clement XII Corsini (1730/40) later completed by Nicolò Forti

In 1871 the Istituto Romano S. Michele (Roman Institute St. Michael) was founded to be administrated by the local Rome government. The old prison for underage children and the female prison were transformed into a new prison for underage children

In 1938 the guest of the hospice were transferred to Tor Marancia in the south-east outskirts of Rome. In the following thirty years the complex was not well maintained, part of it was used as a high school and during and after World War II it was occupied by soldiers and refugees and devastated to the point that many floors collapsed

Only in 1969 the Italian government fully acquired it and assigned the restored building to the Ministry of National Heritage even if the prison for underage children kept functioning until 1972