KING VISITS ANCIENT ROMAN PALACE

ROME, ITALY - His Majesty the King and Liphovela LaZuma, yesterday visited one of the oldest and largest private palaces of Rome, the Palazzo Colonna Palace, which was founded by the Colonna family in the 12th century.

The King was warmly received by Prince Prospero and Princess Jeanne Colonna, the president and vice president of the Palazzo Colonna Foundation. Prince Prospero is a surviving descendent of Pope Mantino (Martin) V, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1417 to 1431.In a brief interview with Prince Prospero, he revealed that he once visited Mbabane as a tourist in the early 80s, on his tour of three southern African countries, which were Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland (Eswatini).

He said they were happy to receive His Majesty the King as their guest. The King and Liphovela were taken on a guided tour of the palace by Letizia Cenci, who took them to every corner of the 60 000-square metre building. The Palazzo Colonna is a block of palatial buildings in the centre of the city of Rome, located at the base of the Quirinal Hill and adjacent to the Basilica of the Holy Apostles. This majestic palace was built on the ruins of an ancient Roman Serapeum. It is believed that in the 12th century, there was already a building and a castle in the area where the current one is located. This building belongs to the Colonna family. The main body of the building was demolished by Pope Boniface VIII and rebuilt in the 14th century, hosting illustrious personalities such as Emperor Ludovico the Bavarian, Castruccio Castracani and then Francesco Petrarca, a friend of the family.

Pope

According to historians, in 1400, Prince Giordano Colonna, Odo’s brother and appointed Pope as Martin V, resided in the part of the Palace that is next to Via della Pilotta, where the present entrance to the Cardinal’s Gallery is located, the oldest part of the building that was later extended to Piazza dei Santissimi Apostoli. The Palazzo Colonna is a Roman palace, which currently extends over an area where buildings and houses existed before the year 1000, with fortresses that belonged to the counts of Tusculum, from which descended the powerful and noble Colonna family, well-known in the city. Today this building houses the Colonna Gallery, the most famous palace area in Rome, a true gem of Baroque art. The Colonna Gallery was a work of Girolamo Colonna, who lived in the first half of the 17th century and who held the positions of cardinal and archbishop of the Catholic Church; in 1654, he began the construction work on the gallery, eight years before his death.

Unique

The first person to participate in this project was Antonio Del Grande, who had been entrusted by Girolamo Colonna with the restructuring of the Palazzo Colonna, four years before the works on the gallery began to create a unique architectural complex.The Colonnas are an ancient Roman family whose history began 900 hundred years ago. The very first documented member of the family was Pietro, who lived between 1078 and 1108 in the countryside south of Rome, close to the town of Colonna, from which the house derived its name. It is said that up to the present day, there have been no less than 31 generations of the Colonna family, the main branch of which established itself from the beginning of 1200 on the slopes of the Quirinal Hill.

His Majesty the King and Liphovela LaZuma were accompanied on the tour by Emazinyane, Prince Simelane, Princess Gcebile, Indvuna Themba Ginindza, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Pholile Shakantu, Commerce Industry and Trade Minister Manqoba Khumalo, Eswatini High Commissioner in the United Kingdom, also responsible for Italy, Thandazile Mbuyisa, Ambassador to the European Union Vuyile Dlamini, Chief Officer Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze and King’s Private Secretary Mbongeni Simelane, to name but a few.

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