Located In The Heart Of Rome Is A 14th Century Palace With Breathtaking Art

It can be hard to decide which things to do on a short visit to Rome, but if you happen to be visiting during the short hours when it's open to the public, you should definitely consider adding the Palazzo Colonna to your itinerary. Inside an unremarkable looking building in the middle of Rome is one of the city's most opulent galleries. In the Colonna Gallery, you'll find a vast, baroque hall full of works of art. Believe it or not, you won't even have to fight crowds to see it.

Inside, you'll find frescoes, sculptures, and paintings from many of the most renowned 15th and 16th century artists from Italy, like Tintoretto and Guercino. For centuries, the palace has been fascinating to the public, not only because of its famous works of art hidden away inside, but because of its owners, the Colonna family. When you walk through the gilded halls of this palace, you'll be walking in the footsteps of princesses and popes.

Palazzo Colonna is one of the aristocratic palaces of Rome, inhabited by the city's royal families. It's hard to believe that people actually lived in this grandiose place, where almost every inch is a marvel of architecture and artistic expertise. The ultimate attraction at the palace is the Colonna Gallery. Although it's built on the ruins of an ancient Roman temple and construction on the palace began in the 1300s, the gallery wasn't added until the 1600s — practically modern for a city packed with archaeological sites and must-see churches dating back to the dawn of Christianity. The floors are shimmering marble, the ceilings are adorned with colorful frescoes, the walls are covered with paintings in gilded golden frames, and the halls are lined with statues.

While you're there, you will also want to visit the gardens, and the private apartment of the princess Isabelle Colonna. There, you can walk through the rooms where the princess hosted visiting royals, like Queen Elizabeth I. This space has been left unchanged from how they were when Isabelle lived in them, so it feels like taking a step into history.

This is one attraction that you won't be able to visit on a whim with your Rome tourist pass. While you can see incredible sights by just walking around the city and stopping anywhere that intrigues you, you have to plan ahead to explore Palazzo Colonna. Unless you're going to book a private visit in advance, you'll have to head over to Rome's historic center between 9 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. if you want to get inside.

A short itinerary ticket, which doesn't include Princess Isabelle's apartment, costs a little under $16.50, while a full itinerary costs a little over $27. If you're interested in having more information and context for the things that you're seeing, there are tours in several languages, including English. However, you can expect to pay a significant amount more — around an additional $140 per person on top of the ticket price.