Palazzo Venezia

Palazzo Venezia
Palazzo Venezia, main front (east front) facing the Piazza Venezia
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General information
Location	north of the Capitoline Hill, Rome, Italy
Coordinates	41°53′46″N 12°28′53″E / 41.8962°N 12.4815°E / 41.8962; 12.4815

The Palazzo Venezia or Palazzo Barbo (Italian: [paˈlattso veˈnɛttsja]), formerly Palace of Saint Mark, is a large early Renaissance palace in central Rome, Italy, situated to the north of the Capitoline Hill. Today the property of the Republic of Italy it houses the National Museum of the Palazzo Venezia. The main (eastern) facade measures 77 metres (253 ft) in length, with a height (excluding tower) of about 31 metres (102 ft). The north wing, containing the "Cibo Apartment", extending westwards, measures 122 metres (400 ft) in length. It covers an area of 1.2 hectares (2.9 acres) and encloses two gardens and the Basilica of Saint Mark. It was built in the present form during the 1450s by Cardinal Pietro Barbo (1417-1471), titular holder of the Basilica of Saint Mark, who from 1464 ruled as Pope Paul II. Barbo, a Venetian by birth as was customary for cardinals of the Basilica of Saint Mark, lived there even as pope and amassed there a great collection of art and antiquities.^[1] During the first half of the 20th century it became the residence and headquarters of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who made notable orations from its balcony to huge crowds filling the Piazza Venezia.

The original structure of this great architectural complex consisted of a modest medieval house intended as the residence of the cardinals appointed as the titular holders of the Basilica of Saint Mark. In 1469, having undergone a massive extension, it became a papal residence and in 1564 Pope Pius IV, in order to win the sympathies of the Republic of Venice, of which the patron was Saint Mark, gave the mansion to the Venetian embassy to Rome on condition that part of the building would remain a residence for the cardinals of the Basilica of Saint Mark, which part is now known as the Cibo (or Cybo) Apartment,^[2] and that the Venetian Republic would provide for the building's maintenance and future restoration. The main eastern facade of the palace faces Piazza Venezia and the north wing, containing the Cibo Apartment, forms part of the south side of the Via del Plebiscito.