ColonnaPalace

The Colonna Palace was built in 1532 by Ascanio Colonna, within a project of transformation of the ancient medieval village. He chose the site where was the older Rocca Orsini fortress (still visible), in the heart of the town. The work was commissioned to the famous architect Antonio da San Gallo the Younger but, due to war, it was suspended until 1555 when Marcantonio Colonna, son of Ascanio and Joan of Aragon, give the charge to the architect Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola, often simply called Vignola.
The building works lasted very long; in 1653 there were some painters to be paid for their works.

Colonna Palace

In an inventory of assets of the Colonna family, dated 1 August 1788, there are mentioned more than 600 paintings of various types and kinds.

At the ground floor there is the large room called "of the Popes", due to the fact that on the walls there are the portraits of the Popes, starting from that of San Peter. These portraits were copied to decorate the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, in Rome, after the fire that destroyed it in 1835.
The Palace, become the Town All in 1916 according to the wish of Vittoria Colonna Caetani, was almost entirely destroyed by air raids during WWII. At the end of the war, it was restored immediately.
Since 2000 it hosts the "Memorie di Guerra" museum, exhibiting mementos of evacuees to Marino during the war years.