Palazzo Valentini, seat of the Province of Rome since 1873, was commissioned to be built in 1585 by Cardinal Michele Bonelli, a nephew of Pope Pius V. In the seventeenth century it underwent renovation and a series of extensions were added by Cardinal Carlo Bonelli and Michele Ferdinando Bonelli. The building was partially demolished and then rebuilt by Francesco Peparelli for the new owner, Cardinal Renato Imperiali, who but up an important family library (the 'Imperiali' library), comprising about 24,000 volumes.
In the early eighteenth century, the building was leased to several prominent figures, including the Marquis Francesco Maria Ruspoli, who lived there between 1705 and 1713, using it as a private theatre and offering hospitality to famous musicians of the time, including Georg Friedrich Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti and Arcangelo Corelli.
The entire building was then purchased in 1752 by Cardinal Giuseppe Spinelli, who moved the Imperial Library to the ground floor for public use and was often frequented by Johann Joachim Winckelmann. In 1827 the Prussian banker and Consul-General Vincenzo Valentini bought the building, making it his home and giving it its name.
The archaeological remains of ancient Roman houses uncovered beneath Palazzo Valentini are now on permanent display, adding to Rome's already rich historical and artistic heritage. A team of art historians, archaeologists and architects, all working for the Provincial Administration, worked on a project to research, restore and put these excavations on public display. The results are of exceptional significance, revealing an area that was of great importance in Roman times and which can help piece together the ancient, medieval and modern topography of Rome.