Palazzo Venezia

Cardinal Pietro Barbo, who later became Pope Paul II, commissioned the construction of this palace in 1455. It was the Papal residence until 1564 and then became the home of the Venetian Embassy. It was then owned by Austria from 1797 to 1916 at which point it was returned to the Italians. In the 30's, it was where Mussolini chose to have his office.
Since 1921 it has been home to a museum: collections of paintings and bronzes from the Renaissance, sculptures, tapestries, earthenware, ceramics, silverware, baroque clay statues by Le Bernin and a collection of Byzantine art from the Middle Ages. It also holds the Soprintendenza per i Beni Artistici e storici de Rome (General management of Artistic and Historic goods) and the library of the Instituto Nazionale di Archelogia e Storia dell'Arte (National Institute of Archaeology and Art History).