Seat of the Italian Senate since 1871, the regal Palazzo Madama was originally the 16th-century residence of Giovanni de’ Medici, the future Pope Leo X. It was enlarged in the 17th century and bought by the papacy in 1755, after which it was used to house several pontifical departments.
The name ‘Madama’ is a reference to Margaret of Parma, the illegitimate daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who lived here from 1559 to 1567.