Palazzo Venezia

Palazzo Venezia – The Palazzo Venezia or Palazzo Barbo, formerly Palazzo di San Marco, is a large early Renaissance palace in central Rome, Italy, situated to the north of the Capitoline Hill. Today the property of the Italian Republic it houses the National Museum of the Palazzo Venezia. The main (eastern) facade measures 77 metres (253 ft) in length, with a height 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 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. During the first half of the 20th century it became the residence and headquarters of Benito Mussolini, dictator of Fascist Italy (1922–1943), who made notable orations from its balcony to huge crowds filling the Piazza Venezia.

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