Hidden in plain sight in the centre of Rome, Villa Silvestri Rivaldi gets ready to open to visitors after being closed up for decades.
An abandoned Renaissance-era palace in the shadow of the Colosseum is preparing to gradually open to the public after decades of closure, the Italian culture ministry said on Tuesday.
Villa Silvestri Rivaldi, which had been in a state of neglect for 40 years, is undergoing a €35 million restoration, financed by the culture ministry, while the Lazio Region has committed to purchasing the 16th-century property for €25 million.
During a visit on Tuesday, culture minister Alessandro Giuli and Lazio governor Francesco Rocca presented the first areas undergoing restoration and illustrated the project for the rebirth of the historic complex.
Located opposite the Roman Forum, the 7,000-sqm site – including buildings and grounds – contains faded mythological frescoes attributed to Perin del Vaga, precious floors and coffered ceilings.
“Our citizens and the entire world know little, if anything, about the wonder of Palazzo Silvestri Rivaldi”, Rocca said in a statement, describing it as “a priceless Renaissance complex that was at risk of perpetual abandonment”.
“Restoration work will begin in 2026, and citizens will gradually be able to enjoy the spaces of a place destined to become, in its own right, one of the most interesting cultural centres in Europe,” Rocca added.
The villa is set to partially open to small groups of visitors from 8 January, by reservation only, the culture ministry said in a statement.
In the meantime the villa’s gardens will open to the public free of charge over the festive season, from 15 December to 6 January 2026, the Lazio region said.
A brief history
The villa was designed by Sangallo the Younger and was constructed between 1534 and 1547 for Eurialo Silvestri, the papal chamberlain of Pope Paul III.
Weakened in standing after the death of the Farnese pope, in 1577 the Silvestri family offered the palazzo “for life” to Cardinal Alessandro de’ Medici, future Pope Leo XI, who in turn leased it to a member of the Colonna family.
On the death of Leo XI in 1605, the complex passed through the hands of two other cardinals before coming into the ownership, four decades later, of the Conservatorio delle Zitelle Mendicanti, a home for poor single women.
The institute, run by a monsignor Ascanio Rivaldi, offered women education, lodging and employment, converting the building into a boarding school and textile factory.
The site was decimated by the construction in 1932 of Via dell’Impero (today Via dei Fori Imperiali), which involved the excavation of the Velia, or Velian hill, a spur stretching between the north side of the Palatine Hill and the Oppian Hill.
The Velia was home to the palace’s garden, which originally reached the apse of the Basilica of Maxentius in the Roman Forum, and which was almost entirely destroyed together with its Renaissance and Baroque furnishings, during the construction of the new road.
In 1975 the villa passed to the Santa Maria in Aquiro Institute (ISMA) but remained unused, being occupied by various movements in the 1970s, and becoming known informally as the “Convento Occupato.”
Since the 1980s the complex has been in a state of complete abandonment, threatened by structural difficulties, and surrounded in recent years by Metro C works.
Future
Destined to become a landmark cultural centre, it remains unclear what the exact role of the restored building will be.
The culture ministry has stated that the villa will “be used exclusively for purposes consistent with its historical and artistic nature, ensuring its protection and enhancement over time”.
Several years ago, local media reported that the complex might be used by the culture ministry for “higher education” purposes, as well as for staging exhibitions.
In 2020, the centre-left former culture minister Dario Franceschini suggested that the villa could become the permanent home of the legendary Torlonia Marbles.
Photos Regione Lazio
