Palazzo Montecitorio

Palazzo Montecitorio
Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic
Palazzo Montecitorio, seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
General information
Town or city	Rome
Country	Italy
Coordinates	41°54′05″N 12°28′43″E / 41.9014°N 12.4786°E / 41.9014; 12.4786
Client	Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi
Design and construction
Architect	Gian Lorenzo Bernini Carlo Fontana Ernesto Basile

The Palazzo Montecitorio (Italian pronunciation: [paˈlatt͡so montetʃiˈtɔːrjo]) is a palace in Rome and the seat of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

The palace's name derives from the slight hill on which it is built, which was claimed to be the Mons Citatorius, the hill created in the process of clearing the Campus Martius in Roman times.

The building was originally designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for the young Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of Pope Gregory XV. However, with the death of Gregory XV by 1623, work stopped, and was not restarted until the papacy of Pope Innocent XII (Antonio Pignatelli), when it was completed by the architect Carlo Fontana, who modified Bernini's plan with the addition of a bell gable above the main entrance. The building was designated for public and social functions only, due to Innocent XII's firm antinepotism policies which were in contrast to his predecessors.

In 1696 the Curia apostolica (papal law courts) was installed there. Later it was home to the Governatorato di Roma (the city administration during the papal period) and the police headquarters. The excavated obelisk of the Solarium Augusti, now known as the Obelisk of Montecitorio, was installed in front of the palace by Pius VI in 1789.

With the Unification of Italy in 1861 and the transfer of the capital to Rome in 1870, Montecitorio was seized by the Italian government and chosen as the seat of the Chamber of Deputies, after consideration of various possibilities. The former internal courtyard was roofed over and converted into a semi-circular assembly room by Paolo Comotto. The Chamber was inaugurated on 21 November 1871.