The Chancellery Palace is a Renaissance palace in Rome, Italy. It was built in 1485 by an unknown architect as a palace for the Cardinal. It is regarded as the earliest Renaissance palace in Rome. It is also designated as a world heritage site as part of a group of buildings.
Cardinal Raffele Riario considered the palace to be a masterpiece of patronage for the family of Pope Sixtus IV. He spent all his money on the construction, but the rumor was that the funds came from a single night's winnings while gambling. The architect may be unknown, but opinions of the identity suggest that Francesco Martini and Baccio Pontelli were involved in the early stages of designing it. The building was completed in 1513.
The Chancellery Palace was the first in Rome to be built with the new Renaissance style. It's long facade surrounds the small Basilica Church with the Cardinal's titular church on its right. It took 28 years to complete this "pearl of Roman Renaissance Architecture". The whole building has a very graceful facade: a magnificent courtyard, antique columns, and a 15th century entrance door. There is also a hall for a small theater, and in the second half of the 17th century the palace became a vivid center of theatric and musical life, where the greatest artists made performances.
In 1517, the palace was confiscated from Riario as punishment for his participation in the conspiracy against Leo X, and it was passed to Cardinal Giuliano de'Medicini, who was the vice chancellor of the Holy Church. Later excavations beneath the courtyard revealed the 4th-5th century remains of the huge basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso, one of the most important early churches in Rome. A used cemetery from the 8th century was also discovered there, as well as the shards of many 15th century ceramics
Many exciting and strange things happened there like in 1798 when the palace housed the seat of the Tribunal of the Roman Republic, in 1810 when an Imperial Court of Napolean was held, in 1849 the Constitutional Assembly of the Roman Republic. And in 1848, the Minister of Home Affairs was murdered in the hall.
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