Useful information

Address: Via del Seminario, 120 – Rome. The building is not open to tourists.

History and description

The Palazzo Gabrielli-Borromeo was indirectly responsible for the name of the street in which it is located, as it used to be the seat of the Seminario Romano from 1608.

The building was constructed for the lawyer Girolamo Gabrielli, who had moved to Rome from Gubbio in 1525. After his death, he left the palace to his son, who sold it to the Istituzione del Seminario Romano in 1607, having moved to the Palazzo Mignanelli with his wife (who was a member of the Mignanelli family).

This Jesuit institution, which was run for a while by Cardinal Borromeo, had been founded in 1565 to train priests. Before its seat in the Palazzo Gabrielli-Borromeo, it had been housed in several other palaces in the city center. The organization stayed in the building from 1608 to 1772.

After Pope Clement XIV banned the Jesuit Order in 1773, the palace was sold to the Monte di Pietà (a bank founded in the 15th century, which granted short-term micro-loans and had no profitable purpose).

This bank leased the palace to various private residents, including Cardinal Vitaliano Borromeo, who had it restored and thus gave his name to building.

In 1796, the Fabbrica di San Pietro (an ecclesiastical institution regulating the Vatican’s business interests) was granted a long lease of the palace. Part of the building was used for offices of the institute itself and the rest was rented out.

From 1824 to 1848, the palazzo was owned by the Collegio dei Nobili, which was run by the, by then revived, Jesuit Order.

During the time of the Roman Republic, Giuseppe Mazzini took up residence in the building.

Nowadays, after having changed occupants several more times, the palazzo houses multiple departments of the Camera dei Deputati.

Palazzo Gabrielli Borromeo Rome

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