The Barracco Museum has been housed in the renowned seat of the Renaissance Palace, known as the Farnesina ai Baullari, since 1948. It was built in 1523 by the Breton Prelate Thomas Le Roy and planned by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. The building, located on two floors with elegant loggias around a small enclosure, is well proportioned, typical of the Florentine Renaissance period. The Comune di Roma bought it at the end of the 18th Century.
The Collection was donated to the Comune in 1902 by Baron Giovanni Barracco and comprises 380 works of art – Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman - offering the visitor an overall panorama of the history of sculpture in the Mediterranean basin from the beginning of the Medieval Era.
The structures that can be seen beneath the building, at about 4 meters from the current street level, were discovered in 1899 when the building was restored. A greater part of the remains may be dated back to the 4th Century, revealing different building periods and may have been used for different purposes.
A portico with columns, made of available material (three Tuscan capitals turned upside down, used as bases) has been partly preserved. The paving, still in existence, reflects the different building periods: the first previous piece, in large rectangular marble slabs, was there prior to the portico and shows interesting antique restoring.
The walls, decorated with frescoes with aquatic subjects and landscapes, were removed during the seventies and are at present kept at the Museum. It is understood that these underground structures lead to a public building in the Campo Marzio (to be used for the four equestrian factions competing in Rome) while at a later date, this area became a private residence.
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 | | | I Municipio
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 166/a - 00186 Roma
Tel./fax +39 - 06.68806848 |  |
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