Palazzo Venezia opens Renaissance apartment restoration to public tours

The VIVE museum complex, comprising Palazzo Venezia and the Vittoriano in Rome, has launched an open restoration project for the Appartamento Barbo, a Renaissance apartment built for Cardinal Pietro Barbo (later Pope Paul II) after 1455. The restoration was necessitated by safety consolidation work for the new Venezia metro station on Line C. The apartment, located on the first floor, features seven rooms overlooking Piazza Venezia with preserved decorative ceilings, floors, and wall paintings from 15th-century Rome. Barbo housed his collection of glyptics, numismatics, and goldsmith work there. The open construction site allows free guided tours organized by Opera Laboratori Fiorentini, running monthly through June 2025. Each tour accommodates up to 8 people in 4 shifts. On March 15, visitors can access scaffolding in the Sala dei Paramenti and Sala delle Fatiche di Ercole. Subsequent dates open the Sale Monumentali: Sala del Mappamondo on April 12, Sala Regia on May 17 and June 21. Safety shoes are provided. The initiative is part of VIVE's educational activities to engage the public with historical-artistic heritage and conservation work.