The 'Talking' Palazzo!

Map

Palazzo Parlante

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The delightfully playful Palazzo Coppedè a Via Veneto was the last work of the Florentine architect  Luigi 'Gino' Copped​è (1866-1927). The palazzo is better known as Palazzo Parlante, on account of the number of inscriptions it sports. (Parlare means to speak/talk in Italian.)

One of the inscriptions, prominently displayed on the piano nobile, declares: ROMA LENIA QUIA AETERNA (Rome is slow because it is eternal). At a higher level is the inscription: ROMANIS QVINTO AB RENOVATIS FASCIBVS ANNO VRBIS AD ORNATVM EST AEDIFICATA DOMVS (The house was built as an ornament to the city in the fifth year of Rome since the fasces were restored).

​The fifth year since the fasces were restored refers to the period October 28th 1926 to October 27th 1927. It is, of course, a reference to Mussolini and the Fascist era, which lasted from October 1922 until July 1943, the so-called Ventennio Fascista  (Twenty years of Fascism).   

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