The Chigi Palace ( it, Palazzo Chigi ) is a palace and former noble residence in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
which is the seat of the
Council of Ministers
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
and the
official residence
An official residence is the residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-related functions. ...
of the
Prime Minister of Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is ...
. Since 22 October 2022, the tenant of the Chigi Palace has been Prime Minister
Giorgia Meloni
Giorgia Meloni (; born 15 January 1977) is an Italian politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Italy since 22 October 2022, the first woman to hold this position. A member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2006, she has led the ...
. It is located in the
Piazza Colonna
Piazza Colonna is a piazza at the center of the Rione of Colonna in the historic heart of Rome, Italy. It is named for the marble Column of Marcus Aurelius, which has stood there since AD 193. The bronze statue of Saint Paul that crowns the col ...
, next to
Palazzo Montecitorio
The Palazzo Montecitorio () is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian Parliament.
History
The palace's name derives from the slight hill on which it is built, which was claimed to be the ''Mon ...
, seat of the
Chamber of Deputies.
History
The architectural history of Chigi Palace spans more than three centuries during which several projects and continuous adaptations to the ever-changing needs of the Palace have followed. The Palace, overlooking the
Piazza Colonna
Piazza Colonna is a piazza at the center of the Rione of Colonna in the historic heart of Rome, Italy. It is named for the marble Column of Marcus Aurelius, which has stood there since AD 193. The bronze statue of Saint Paul that crowns the col ...
and the
Via del Corso
The Via del Corso is a main street in the historical centre of Rome. It is straight in an area otherwise characterized by narrow meandering alleys and small piazzas. Considered a wide street in ancient times, the Corso is approximately 10 metres w ...
, was begun in 1562 by
Giacomo della Porta
Giacomo della Porta (1532–1602) was an Italian architect and sculptor, who worked on many important buildings in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica. He was born at Porlezza, Lombardy and died in Rome.
Biography
Giacomo Della Porta was ...
. On 28 January 1578, the consistorial lawyer Pietro Aldobrandini, brother of the future Pope
Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605.
Born ...
, purchased a house on Via del Corso. The architect Matteo Bartolini from
Città di Castello
Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. The city is north of ...
was entrusted with the project. Aldobrandini already owned a property along the road that borders the so-called "Colonna island", connecting via del Corso with
Montecitorio
The Palazzo Montecitorio () is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian Parliament.
History
The palace's name derives from the slight hill on which it is built, which was claimed to be the ''Mons ...
, he intended to unite the two properties. At the death of Pietro Aldobrandini, his son sold the properties to Paolo Fossano, who continued the work on the side of Via del Corso.
In 1616, cardinal
Pietro Aldobrandini
Pietro Aldobrandini (31 March 1571 – 10 February 1621) was an Italian cardinal and patron of the arts.
Biography
He was made a cardinal in 1593 by his uncle, Pope Clement VIII. He took over the duchy of Ferrara in 1598 when it fell to the P ...
, nephew of Clement VIII, repurchased the family home, resuming construction and incorporating various houses adjacent to the wing facing the future square. In 1659 it was purchased by the
House of Chigi
The House of Chigi () is an Italian princely family of Sienese origin descended from the counts of Ardenghesca, which possessed castles in the Maremma, southern Tuscany. Later, the family settled in Rome. The earliest authentic mention of them i ...
, a rich family of bankers from
Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
. It was then remodelled by Felice della Greca and
Giovanni Battista Contini. It has five floors, a broad stairway that leads to the living rooms, and a courtyard decorated with a fountain, designed by Giacomo della Porta. The fountain has been copied in many sites in Rome and other Italian cities.
After a couple of centuries in which the building has served mainly as the home of important families of Papal Rome, starting from the end of the 1700s, the building was used as the seat of Spanish embassy in Rome.
On 20 April 1770,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
gave a concert there in the presence of
Charles Edward Stuart In 1878 it became the residence of the
Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to Italy. During this period the Palace was nicknamed the "Austrian-Vatican ''
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America
* Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
''". At the beginning of the 20th century, the Palace was hit by frequent
irredentist demonstrations, asking for the independence of
Trento
Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ce ...
and
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...
.
Institutional building
In 1916 it was bought by the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
and became the seat of the
Minister for Colonial Affairs, the ministry responsible for the government of the
country's colonial possessions and the direction of their economies.
In 1922, at the beginning of
Benito Mussolini's rule, Palazzo Chigi became the official residence of the
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1961, it became the official meeting place of the
Council of Ministers
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
and the residence of its
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
, who is the head of the Italian government.
At the end of the 20th century, the building underwent a restoration, completed on 7 November 1999. The intervention involved not only the facades, but also the rooms of the Prime Minister's office, which Prime Minister
Giuliano Amato had transferred to another hall of the palace, and that for the occasion it was re-established in its original location.
On 28 April 28, 2013, during the oath of the government led by
Enrico Letta
Enrico Letta (; born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 2013 to February 2014, leading a grand coalition of centre-left and centre-right parties. Since March 2021, Letta has been secretary ...
, a man, Luigi Preiti, opened fire on two
carabinieri
The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...
, Giuseppe Giangrande and Francesco Negri, injuring the latter and a pregnant passerby.
Art
The Library Hall was commissioned by Agostino Chigi at the end of the 17th century to house the enormous library of cardinal
Flavio Chigi. The project was realized by Giovanni Battista Contini.
The Chigi library or ''Chigiana'' contained thousands of valuable manuscripts, in large part based on the personal library of
Pope Alexander VII, a member of the Chigi family. From the time of
Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...
, the Vatican attempted to acquire this library, but lacked the necessary funds. Eventually,
Pietro Tacchi Venturi
Pietro Tacchi Venturi (; March 18, 1861–March 19, 1956)''New York Times''. 1956, March 19. "Obituary 3--No Title". p. 31. was a Jesuit priest and historian who served as the unofficial liaison between Benito Mussolini, the Fascist leader of ...
was tasked by
Pope Pius XI to negotiate the purchase with the newly formed fascist government of
Benito Mussolini. Venturi managed to convince Mussolini to donate the library to the Vatican free of charge.
See also
Some other Italian institutional buildings:
*
Palazzo del Quirinale
The Quirinal Palace ( it, Palazzo del Quirinale ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, one of the three current official residences of the president of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporzia ...
''Seat of the
President of the Italian Republic
President most commonly refers to:
* President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
''
*
Palazzo Madama ''Seat of the
Italian Senate''
*
Palazzo Montecitorio
The Palazzo Montecitorio () is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian Parliament.
History
The palace's name derives from the slight hill on which it is built, which was claimed to be the ''Mon ...
''Seat of the
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies ( it, Camera dei deputati) is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical funct ...
''
*
Palazzo della Consulta, ''seat of the
Constitutional Court of Italy
The Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic ( it, Corte costituzionale della Repubblica Italiana) is the highest court of Italy in matters of constitutional law. Sometimes, the name ''Consulta'' is used as a metonym for it, because its sessi ...
''
Notes
External links
History of Palazzo Chigi Website of the Italian government
A look at Palazzo Chigi Website of the Italian government
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chigi, Palazzo
Houses completed in 1580
House of Chigi
Official residences in Italy
Prime ministerial residences
Palaces in Rome
Rome R. III Colonna
1580 establishments in Italy