Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne

Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne Review

Following the shape of Emperor Domitian's Odeon arena, a curving, columned portico identifies this otherwise inconspicuous palace on a traffic-swept bend of Corso Vittorio Emanuele. In the 1530s Renaissance architect Baldassare Peruzzi built this new palace for the Massimo family, after their previous dwelling had been destroyed during the Sack of Rome. (High in the papal aristocracy, they boasted an ancestor who had been responsible for the defeat of Hannibal.) If you're here on March 16, you'll be able to go upstairs to take part (on an individual basis but not in groups) in commemorations of a miracle performed here in 1583 by Philip Neri, who is said to have recalled a young member of the family, one Paolo Massimo, from the dead. The palazzo's name comes from the sole surviving column from Domitian's Odeon, which still stands in the square at the back of the palazzo.