Montecitorio Palace

Around 1600, the Prince Ludovisi commissioned the project for this palace by Bernini. The building was completed by Carlo Fontana in 1697 on the site of a pre-existing group of town houses and it became the courts of Vatican's state. Since 1870 it has been the house of Parliament and it's a symbol of the unification of Italy.

Inside the building there are several antique and modern works of art. The Montecitorio Palace contains a collection of more than a thousand paintings and prints from various epochs.

The name Montecitorio derives from a small artificial hill created in the pre-Roman era by the inhabitants of this area to drain the marshland.

The Egyptian obelisk of Montecitorio

Octavianus (Emperor Augustus) who conquired Egypt in B.C. 31 was attracted by the Egyptian obelisk. He carried the obelisks of Heliopolis to Rome. This obelisk of Heliopolis was erected in Egypt by Psammetikos II and was this re-erected in the "Campo Marzio" in B.C. 10 by Emperor Augustus. It remained there for many centuries before falling over in the 10th century. The obelisk was finally restored and re-erected at the current location, Piazza di Montecitorio in 1751 by pope Pio VI.