The Via Quattro Novembre is a street in central Rome. It starts at the end of the Via Nazionale, makes a sharp right turn before continuing downhill and making another sharp left turn before ending at Piazza Venezia.
Via Quattro Novembre Rome
History and description
The name of the street refers to the armistice between Italy and Austria in World War I (which was signed on November 3, 1918, but came into force only one day later). Until then, the current Via IV Novembre was still part of the Via Nazionale.
Via Quattro Novembre places of interest
Palazzo Colonna: This building, since the Colonna family itself is still living there, can be visited only on Saturday mornings.
Palazzo Valentini: Underneath this building are ich ruins of an ancient Roman domus.
Chiesa Evangelica Valdese: This church was built between 1883 and 1884 to a design by G. Pandolfi.
The huge building in the corner is the Palazzo dell’I.N.A.I.L. This stands for Istituto Nazionale per le Assicurazioni contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro, which means as much as “National Insurance Institute for People Injured at Work”. This 1934 building was designed by Armando Brasini. Previously it housed the Teatro Drammatico Nazionale and much earlier the Terme di Costantino. (Two famous sculptures found during the excavations for the construction, “The Boxer” and the “Hellenistic Prince”, are now on display at the Museo Nazionale Romano.
Largo Magnanapoli: This is the traffic circle at the end of what is now the Via Nazionale.
The Torre Colonna (or Torre Carbonis) was built around the 12th century by Gildo Carboni. When the tower was later bought by the Colonna family, it was used along with other towers as part of a defense around the Piazza dei SS. Apostoli. It consists of six brick floors with a travertine corbelled top decorated with friezes from the nearby Fori Imperiali. The three friezes depict, successively, spirals of acanthus, cupids and a male torso. Above the friezes is a relief with a column (colonna, in Italian) surmounted by a crown, the coat of arms of the Colonna family.
The Palazzo Pignatelli (Via Quattro Novembre, 152) is named for the Neapolitan family that had it built in the 17th century. A scion of this family would later be elected Pope, as Innocent XII. In 1880, when the current street was constructed, the building was completely renoated by the architect Zampi. Of the original interior, the grand staircase and throne room remain. A bronze bust of Innocenzo XII can be seen in the atrium.