An impenetrable and dark gate. And the surprise of a secret Orange Garden. Doors open in the lesser known corner of the Senate of the Republic with a new extraordinary opening of Fai, "Honors and secrets. The courtyards of Palazzo Madama", Sunday 26 January in Rome .
During the excavations at Palazzo Madama, it will be discovered with FAI volunteers, some archaeological finds from the Neronian-Alexandrian baths were found at the end of the 1980s, including a large tub of Aswan granite fragments. The tank was reassembled and placed in the current Piazza della Costituente, inaugurated in 1987 by the President of the Senate Spadolini, as a gift to the city for the 40 years of the signing of the Constitution. Starting from here you will admire the medieval tower of the houses of the Crescenzi family; Koch Palace; Palazzo Carpegna, whose block, between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, belonged to the Jacovacci family and which now houses the permanent parliamentary commissions and parliamentary groups. Passing under the portico of the Passetto with the Proclamation of Victory we reach the courtyard of honor of Palazzo Madama, so named in honor of Margherita of Austria, natural daughter of Charles V and Duchess of Parma and Piacenza.
Rectangular and Renaissance in character, the courtyard has maintained its layout even during the mid-17th century works with the six columns bearing witness to the building from the time of Leo X. A plaque commemorates the restoration works carried out under the pontificate of Clement XIII, successor of Benedict XIV, who purchased the palace in 1755 for the offices for the State of the Church. At the center of a colored marble floor carpet surrounded by Roman sarcophagi, also the statue of Emilio Greco. Opening 10-18 in Largo della Costituente / Via degli Staderari (last group at 17).
