Palazzo Valentini

Palazzo Valentini
Palazzo Valentini
	Click on the map for a fullscreen view
Alternative names	Palazzo Imperiali
General information
Address	via IV Novembre, 119/a
Town or city	Rome
Country	Italy
Coordinates	41°53′48″N12°29′02″E / 41.89667°N 12.48389°E Coordinates: 41°53′48″N12°29′02″E / 41.89667°N 12.48389°E
Owner	Metropolitan City of Rome Capital
Design and construction
Architect	Domenico Paganelli

Last updated July 29, 2022

Palazzo Valentini is a palazzo in central Rome, Italy, not far from Piazza Venezia. Since 1873 it has been the base of the provincial and prefectural administration of Rome.^[1]

History

The palazzo was first built by cardinal Michele Bonelli, nephew of pope Pius V, who, in 1585, acquired a pre-existing palazzo from Giacomo Boncompagni at the extremity of what was then piazza dei Santi Apostoli. Today the palazzo is separated from that piazza by via Quattro Novembre, opened later to connect the new via Nazionale with piazza Venezia. The cardinal was also the owner of a large part of the area which extended, behind the palazzo, above the ruins of the imperial fora of Trajan and Augustus, known by the name "Pantano" due to being subject to impaludamenti or flooding. Over the same years the district on the ruins of the imperial fora was subjected to a general development of the land and to a systematic urbanisation, with the creation of the "quartiere Alessandrino" in the cardinal's honour (he was nicknamed "cardinale alessandrino" after his origins in a village in the province of Alessandria). The quarter was destroyed in the 1920s and 1930s to open via dei Fori Imperiali.

The trapezoidal plan of the palazzo was designed by Domenico Paganelli. Thanks to substantial funds ploughed into the project by the cardinal, the palazzo was quickly completed within 3 years after building started. In the 17th century the building was then subject to a series of major renovations and expansions, carried out on behalf of cardinals Carlo Bonelli and Michele Ferdinando Bonelli. The palazzo was partially demolished and rebuilt by Francesco Peparelli for its new owner, cardinal Renato Imperiali, who organised the important family library (the "Imperiali") of around 24,000 volumes.

At the start of the 18th century, the palazzo was leased to several prominent personalities, including marchese Francesco Maria Ruspoli from 1705 to 1713, who made it the site for a private theatre and hosted illustrious musicians of the time such as Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti and Arcangelo Corelli. The entire building was then acquired in 1752 by cardinal Giuseppe Spinelli, who realised a new decorative scheme for the first floor and systematised the library (meant by him for public use, and frequented by Johann Joachim Winckelmann) on the ground floor.

In 1827 the Prussian banker and consul general Vincenzo Valentini acquired the palazzo, in which he settled and to which he gave his name. The palazzo was later expanded and rebuilt at great expense, and its new owner used it to house his own collection of paintings as well as increasing the palazzo's own substantial library and archaeological collection. Completion of the works at the back of the palazzo, overlooking the column of Trajan, was entrusted to the architects Filippo Navone and Giovanni Battista Benedetti. Between 1861 and 1865 Vincenzo's son Gioacchino Valentini commissioned two further expansions on the left side, along via di Sant'Eufemia, designed by the architect Luigi Gabet. The provincial deputation of Rome acquired the palazzo as their base in 1873, commissioning the architect Gabet to complete the right side on via de’ Fornari, at the top of vicolo di San Bernardo.

Description

The present structure of the palazzo is characterised by its grand portal, pierced by three windows on each sides, with architraves and lintels and bounded by two travertine columns. Above it is a large balustraded balcony. The great cornice, under which are small windows divided by three mensoloni, is surrounded by a balustrade. The courtyard is a portico in two orders and with 5 arcades on the short sides and 9 along the long sides, divided by Doric pilasters and rich in ancient statues.

The Palazzo's art treasures include the statue of Ulysses by Ugo Attardi, as well as works depicting "Aeneas and Anchises" and "Europa", made by Sandro Chia to commemorate the 135th anniversary of the provincial administration of Rome, now located at the entrance.

After a major restoration the excavations under Palazzo Valentini have now opened to the public on a permanent basis. A small baths complex dating from the 2nd century AD was discovered seven metres below street level under the basement of the building. It is believed to be part of a nearby residential scheme found over 100 years ago prior to the 1907 construction of Palazzo delle Assicurazioni in Piazza Venezia.

Archaeological remains

Recent excavations in the palazzo's basement have found, around 7m below street level, a small baths complex, probably part of an adjacent residential complex already found in 1902 during surveys for the construction of Palazzo delle Assicurazioni di Venezia.

The monumental temple of the deified Trajan was traditionally thought to have been on the same site as this palazzo, but no trace of it has been found here.

Related Research Articles

The Quirinal Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Palace; by metonymy "the Quirinal" has come to stand for the Italian president. The Quirinal Palace has an extension of 1.2 million square feet.

Vincenzo Scamozzi was an Italian architect and a writer on architecture, active mainly in Vicenza and Republic of Venice area in the second half of the 16th century. He was perhaps the most important figure there between Andrea Palladio, whose unfinished projects he inherited at Palladio's death in 1580, and Baldassarre Longhena, Scamozzi's only pupil.

Trajans Forum Ancient Roman imperial forum, a landmark of Rome, Italy

Trajan's Forum was the last of the Imperial fora to be constructed in ancient Rome. The architect Apollodorus of Damascus oversaw its construction.

Monti is the 1st rione of Rome, identified by the initials R. I, located in Municipio I. The name literally means "mountains" in Italian and comes from the fact that the Esquiline, the Viminal Hills, and parts of the Quirinal and the Caelian Hills belonged to this rione: currently, however, the Esquiline Hill belongs to the rione Esquilino.

Trevi is the 2nd rione of Rome, identified by the initials R. II, located in Municipio I. The origin of its name is not clear, but the most accepted theory is that it comes from the Latin trivium, because there were three streets all leading to the current Piazza dei Crociferi, a square next to the modern Trevi square. Its coat of arms is made of three swords on a red background.

Pigna[ˈpiɲɲa] is the 9th rione of Rome, identified by the initials R. IX, and belongs to the Municipio I. The name means "pine cone" in Italian, and the symbol of the rione is the colossal bronze pine cone, that stand above the Pigna. The fountain, that was initially located in the Baths of Agrippa, now decorates a vast niche in the wall of the Vatican facing the Cortile della Pigna, located in Vatican City.

Castro Pretorio is the 18th rione of Rome (Italy), identified by the initials R. XVIII, and it is located within the Municipio I. The rione takes its name by the ruins of the Castrum Praetorium, the barracks of the Praetorian Guard, included in the Aurelian Walls.

Trajan's Market is a large complex of ruins in the city of Rome, Italy, located on the Via dei Fori Imperiali, at the opposite end to the Colosseum. The surviving buildings and structures, built as an integral part of Trajan's Forum and nestled against the excavated flank of the Quirinal Hill, present a living model of life in the Roman capital and a glimpse at the restoration in the city, which reveals new treasures and insights about ancient Roman architecture.

Piazza Venezia is a central hub of Rome, Italy, in which several thoroughfares intersect, including the Via dei Fori Imperiali and the Via del Corso. It takes its name from the Palazzo Venezia, built by the Venetian Cardinal, Pietro Barbo alongside the church of Saint Mark, the patron saint of Venice. The Palazzo Venezia served as the embassy of the Republic of Venice in Rome.

The National Roman Museum is a museum, with several branches in separate buildings throughout the city of Rome, Italy. It shows exhibits from the pre- and early history of Rome, with a focus on archaeological findings from the period of Ancient Rome.

The Via dei Fori Imperiali is a road in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, that runs in a straight line from the Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum. Its course takes it over parts of the Forum of Trajan, Forum of Augustus and Forum of Nerva, parts of which can be seen on both sides of the road. Since the 1990s, there has been a great deal of archeological excavation on both sides of the road, as significant Imperial Roman relics remain to be found underneath it.

Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali, Florence Palazzo in Florence

The Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali is a building in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy. Originally the Palazzo Fenzi, built for the Fenzi banking family and designed in the Neo-Renaissance style by Giuseppe Martelli and is one of the very few purpose built commercial buildings in the centre of the city though it housed on the upper floors reception rooms for the Fenzi family.

The Temple of Trajan was a Roman temple dedicated to the emperor Trajan and his wife Plotina after his deification by the Roman Senate. It was built in the Forum of Trajan (Rome), by Trajan's adoptive son and successor Hadrian, between 125 and 138. The architect was Apollodorus of Damascus.

The architecture of Rome over the centuries has greatly developed from Ancient Roman architecture to Italian modern and contemporary architecture. Rome was once the world's main epicentres of Classical architecture, developing new forms such as the arch, the dome and the vault. The Romanesque style in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries was also widely used in Roman architecture, and later the city became one of the main centres of Renaissance and Baroque architecture. Rome's cityscape is also widely Neoclassical and Fascist in style.

Piazza Cordusio is a square in central Milan, Italy. The piazza takes its name from the Cors Ducis which was located on the square during Longobard times. It is well known for its several turn-of-the-19th-century Neoclassical, eclectic and Art Nouveau buildings, banks and post offices. Even though many of these have now relocated elsewhere, it is still an important commercial square in the city and hosts the Palazzo delle Assicurazioni Generali, the Palazzo del Credito Italiano and the Palazzo delle Poste, former Borsa di Milano. Piazzale Cordusio hosts the Cordusio metro station and is the starting point of the elegant pedestrian Via Dante which leads to the imposing medieval Castello Sforzesco, or Milan Castle. Opposite to Via Dante, Cordusio borders onto Piazza Mercanti, former city centre in the Middle Ages, which leads directly to Piazza del Duomo, today's city centre.

Piazza d'Aracoeli is a square of Rome (Italy), placed at the base of the Capitoline Hill, in the Rione X Campitelli.

Piazza Farnese is the main square of the Regola district of Rome, Italy.

Via Alessandrina is an urban street in Rome (Italy), at the southern end of the Rione Monti, passing alongside the ruins of the Imperial Fora.

References

↑ "Monumenti di Roma: 5 tesori nascosti della Caput Mundi". Snap Italy (in Italian). 2018-03-26. Retrieved 2018-03-29. sito ufficiale delle Domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini (in Italian)

External links

Lucentini, M. (31 December 2012). The Rome Guide: Step by Step through History's Greatest City. ISBN 9781623710088.

Media related to Palazzo Valentini at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Palazzo Spada	Landmarks of Rome Palazzo Valentini	Succeeded by Palazzo Vidoni-Caffarelli

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Monumenti di Roma: 5 tesori nascosti della Caput Mundi". Snap Italy (in Italian). 2018-03-26. Retrieved 2018-03-29. sito ufficiale delle Domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini (in Italian)

[1]