060608


Roma Capitale
Zètema Progetto Cultura
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You are in: Home » Culture and leisure » Cultural heritage » Architectural and historical heritage » Palazzo del Collegio Romano
Typology: Buildings

Address

Address: Piazza del Collegio Romano, 4
Zone: Rione Pigna (Torre Argentina) (Roma centro)

Contacts

Description

The  college was founded in 1582-83 by pope Gregory XIII Boncompagni, who wanted to give an adequate seat to the school founded in 1551 by S. Ignatius of Loyola for those who wanted to be a member of the Society of Jesus. For a long time the palace was attributed to Bartolomeo Ammannati, but it is probably the work by father Giuseppe Valeriani, Jesuit architect who worked on the near Chiesa del Gesù. The majestic complex, that occupies a whole block and includes the Church of S. Ignazio, was the seat of important cultural institutions, the formerly Museo Kircheriano, the Observatory, the Museo Preistorico-Etnografico "Luigi Pigorini" (then moved to its new seat at the EUR) and the Biblioteca dei Gesuiti, that formed the first core of the Biblioteca nazionale centrale Vittorio Emanuele II. At the moment the building houses the Liceo-Ginnasio "Ennio Quirino Visconti" (the first school of the city) and the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali. The great terracotta-tiled facade has three bodies: the central body is the highest and is crowned by a balustrade on whose sides are two sundial shrines and at its centre is a bell tower with a little cupola. The clock under it once gave the exact time and was “official” for all the clocks of Rome. in the central body are two doors decorated by the Boncompagni herald dragons.
Notes: The building is closed to the public. It houses the Liceo Classico Ennio Quirino Visconti and the Ministero per i Beni Culturali.

See also

Culture and leisure › Cultural institutions › Libraries
Culture and leisure › Historic places of worship › Catholic Churches
Last checked: 2021-05-19 16:57