The Sala del Mappamondo
The balcony Mussolini spoke from.
ThePhotografer — CC BY-SA 4.0 · This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder. Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and send me a message. This image is not in the public domain. Please respect the copyright pr — CC BY-SA 3.0 · This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder. Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and send me a message. This image is not in the public domain. Please respect the copyright pr — CC BY-SA 3.0 · This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder. Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and send me a message. This image is not in the public domain. Please respect the copyright pr — CC BY-SA 3.0
Rome's first great Renaissance palace — and the most famous balcony in modern Italian history: Palazzo Venezia was built in 1455 for Cardinal Pietro Barbo, later Pope Paul II, from stone stripped out of the Colosseum, and became the Venetian and then Austrian embassy in Rome, from which its name comes. In the twentieth century it became Mussolini's headquarters: from the balcony of the Sala del Mappamondo above the square he addressed the crowds, and from it he declared war in 1940 — the balcony is still there, seen from the square and entered on the ticket, and it is among the heaviest details in Rome. The museum shows decorative arts, sculpture, ceramics and medieval and Renaissance painting, and its finest feature is the rooms themselves with their timber ceilings, together with the inner garden, the viridarium, with its fountain and trees — a silent oasis metres from Rome's busiest square.
The balcony Mussolini spoke from.
An inner garden metres from the crush.
Via del Plebiscito 118, Rome
Piazza VeneziaRome's largest junction and the knot where every central road meets: Via dei For1 minute walk
Piazza d'AracoeliA small square at the foot of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, where two famous stai2 minutes walk4.5
Galleria Doria PamphiljThe largest private art collection in Rome still held by the family that formed 2 minutes walk4.6
Museo delle CereA wax museum in central Rome at Piazza Venezia, opened in 1958 and among the old3 minutes walk3.5
The Roman Domus of Palazzo ValentiniBeneath Rome's provincial palace, steps from the Vittoriano, sleep two Roman vil3 minutes walk4.6Looking for halal food near Palazzo Venezia? There are several options nearby, from Moroccan and Indian kitchens to quick casual spots and places with a view. Confirm the halal status and opening hours before you go — these can change.
Hotel BaroccoA four-star hotel looking directly onto Piazza Barberini and Bernini's Triton Fo12 minutes walk · $$$$4.9The St. Regis RomeRome's oldest grand hotel and its most historic: opened in January 1894 as the G17 minutes walk · $$$$4.8No: the Vittoriano is the vast white marble monument on the square, while the palace is the red-brick building to its left — the two are often confused.