Address, opening hours and admission

Address: Piazza della Rovere, 83 – Rome (tel. +39 06 6868403 or 46913160) off Via della Lungara. Opening hours: The building is not open to the public.

History and description

The Palazzo Salviati was constructed in the first half of the 16th century.for Filippo Adimari, secret chamberlain of Pope Leo X. The first architect was a pupil of Raffaello, called Giulio Romano.

When the building was bought by Cardinal Giovanni Salviati (in 1552), the Cardinal’s brother, Bernardo (priory of the order of Malta), commissioned Nanni di Baccio Bigio to finish the work. He was responsible for the widening of the back of the building and for the internal facade.

In 1794 the Borghese family bought the Palazzo Salviati and in 1849 French troops turned it into a military barracks.

In 1840 the Vatican State bought the building to use it as its Urban Archives. The grounds were turned into a botanical garden.

In 1870 it became property of the Italian State and was used as the Military Court until it became the seat of the Collegio Militare di Roma. In 1971 it got its present function.

The facade of the Palazzo Salviati is divided into 5 parts of ashlar stonework with in the middle a portal surmounted by a balcony. The windows on the first floor have architraves and on top of those are fake square windows. The cornice is supported by shelves decorated with lion’s heads.

During World War II the building was briefly used to imprison the Jews that had been taken from the ghetto before they were deported.

Works of art in Palazzo Salviati

The chapel inside the building is the work of Giulio Romano and shows 16th century wall paintings by Santi di Tito. The theme of the paintings is formed by the history of the apostles.

The library ceiling is decorated with paintings by Annibale Brugnoli depicting the wars of the Italian Risorgimento and dat from the end of the 19th century.

Piazza della Rovere, 83 – Rome