Is one of the old­est and largest pri­vate palaces in Rome and a hid­den gem that you should not miss when you are in Rome on a Sat­ur­day morn­ing. Con­struc­tion of the palace start­ed in the 14th cen­tu­ry by the Colon­na fam­i­ly. The exte­ri­or of the palace looks Renais­sance and you will hard­ly notice it in the street scene. The inte­ri­or is all Baroque by the archi­tects Berni­ni, Car­lo Fontana, Johan Paul Schor and the first archi­tect Anto­nio del Grande. Eight cen­turies lat­er, the Colon­na fam­i­ly still lives in this palace near Piaz­za Venezia. From 1300 to 1500, the palace func­tioned as a fam­i­ly fort. Odd­one Colon­na, elect­ed Pope Mar­tin V in 1417, appoint­ed the palace as papal seat and lived there from 1420 to 1431. This pope laid the foun­da­tion for a cul­tur­al, urban and admin­is­tra­tive rebirth of the city. In 1527, dur­ing the sack of Rome by the troops of Emper­or Charles V, Palaz­zo Colon­na was one of the few build­ings that was not destroyed. This is because of the good rela­tion­ship of the fam­i­ly with the empire.