Location: Rome, 3rd District, Via del Corso 33, Piazza Colonna. It is one of the four buildings fronting onto Piazza Colonna together with Palazzo Chigi (seat of the Government), Palazzo Wedeking (seat of the “Il Tempo”newspaper) and Palazzo Ferrajoli.
Gross surface area: 11,500 m3 over 4 floors
Tenants: 27 shops
Year of construction: 1922
Architect: Dario Carbone
Year of Purchase: 2009
Designated use: shops

The Galleria in Piazza Colonna was built at a time when Rome was being transformed to become the effective capital of Italy, is one of the best known and most captivating places in Italy and both for its central location and for its highly prestigious architectural structure that recently underwent important renovation not to mention the myth that has always accompanied a visit there.

Built in 1922 to a design by Architect Dario Carbone, the Galleria together with Piazza Colonna got their name from the Marcus Aurelius Column (also known as Antonina), erected between 176 and 192 A.D. The Piazza was commissioned by Pope Sixtus V on the very central Via del Corso and is surrounded by some of the most important historical buildings in Rome: Palazzo Chigi, currently the home of the Cabinet Office, Palazzo Wedeking, historical home of the “Il Tempo” newspaper and Palazzo Ferrajoli belonging to the aristocratic Aldobrandini family.

In the same district is Palazzo Toni, Palazzo Capranica, Hadrian’s Temple and Palazzo Barberini; also many important churches like Sant Andrea delle Fratte and San Lorenzo in Lucina. The Colonna District also hosts two of the most important and famous monuments in Rome, the Pantheon and the Ara Pacis, bringing together Rome’s ancient history and the modernity of the present day.

The history of the Galleria Colonna began in 1872, during the urban transformation of Rome when the new forms of traffic in the Capital began to pose problems of transport and urban planning which reflected the new requirements caused by Government activity.

The necessity to widen Via del Corso and modify the layout of Piazza Colonna required the construction of new buildings and some demolition including the most significant which was Palazzo Piombini owned by the Boncompagni Ludovisi family. It was then that the idea of creating a shopping arcade like that in Milan and other European cities came into being. Many architects set about creating a design but the inadequacy of some such architectural firms was often accompanied by a lack of capital to carry out the work. It was only in 1911 that the Rome Council approved Dario Carbone’s design that, following many variations and modifications, finally became executive and the work got underway, taking until 20 October 1922 to be inaugurated. The building was construed with many different features compared to other Roman buildings but it fitted in perfectly with the urban fabric of the Capital, also responding well to the needs of the social life of the new bourgeoisie with family walks, meeting people in cafe’s and shopping in elegant shops.
The fine, complex restoration, carried out by the Lamar Group, begun in 2001 and completed in 2003, returned the complex to its former splendour and vitality, expertly preserving the building’s historical and architectural value and combining it with the necessary innovation and functionality under scrutiny of the Heritage and Environmental Superintendant’s office.
site: Galleria Colonna