Palazzo Montecitorio
Palazzo Montecitorio | |
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Italian Chamber of Deputies | |
General information | |
Town or city | Rome |
Country | Italy |
Coordinates | 41°54′05″N 12°28′43″E / 41.9014°N 12.4786°E |
Client | Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Gian Lorenzo Bernini Carlo Fontana Ernesto Basile |
Palazzo Montecitorio (Italian pronunciation: [paˈlattso ˌmontetʃiˈtɔːrjo]) 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 Citatorius, the hill created in the process of clearing the Campus Martius in Roman times.
The building was originally designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for the young Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of Pope Gregory XV. However, with the death of Gregory XV by 1623, work stopped, and was not restarted until the papacy of Pope Innocent XII (Antonio Pignatelli), when it was completed by the architect Carlo Fontana, who modified Bernini's plan with the addition of a bell gable above the main entrance. The building was designated for public and social functions only, due to Innocent XII's firm anti-nepotism policies which were in contrast to his predecessors'.
In 1696 the
With the
But the building proved wholly inadequate: the acoustics were terrible, it was very cold in winter and very hot in summer. As a result of extensive damage from water seepage, the palace was condemned in 1900. An attempt to build a new palace for the Chamber of Deputies on the Via Nazionale failed, and a provisional meeting hall was built on the Via della Missione. Only in 1918 was the Chamber definitively returned to the Palazzo Montecitorio.
The return of the Chamber of Deputies to the palace followed extensive renovations, which left only the facade intact. The architect,
The debating chamber is characterized by numerous decorations in the Art Nouveau style: the impressive canopy of coloured glass (the work of Giovanni Beltrami), the pictorial frieze entitled The Italian People (by Giulio Aristide Sartorio) which surrounds the chamber, the bronze figures flanking the presidential and government benches, and the panels depicting The Glory of the Savoy Dynasty by Davide Calandra.
See also
- Palazzo del Quirinale
- Palazzo Madama
- Palazzo Chigi
- Palazzo della Consulta
- Palazzo di Giustizia
Gallery
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Montecitorio Panini byGiovanni Paolo Pannini, c. 1747
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Square with the obelisk
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Front facade
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Rear facade
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Debating chamber, designed by Ernesto Basile
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Presidential inauguration of Sergio Mattarella (2022)