Open as a rule to the general public on the first Sunday in the month, a visit and guided tour includes the 'Transatlantico', also dubbed the ''corridor of lost steps'', the ante-chamber to the main hall. It is here that politicians meet, chat and stroll ceaselessly back and forth, arm in arm with each other or the ever-present journalists who follow them between one sitting and another. From here you enter the main hall, just as the deputies and ministers do; and then, finally, up to the second floor and the representation rooms. Schools, civic bodies and organised groups can also visit on weekdays (excluding Saturdays) after submitting a formal request on headed paper signed by those responsible for groups (see information on the right).

A symbol of the Unification of Italy
Montecitorio is perhaps even more than a symbol. It is also the most important of eight buildings whose job is to guarantee the day-to-day functioning of all institutions. The history of the Palace has been more than somewhat troubled. Even the origin of its name is uncertain. Built on the site of a pre-existing group of town houses, the Palace was designed by Bernini for Pope Innocent X who intended it as the residence of the Ludovisi family. On the Pope's death, in 1655, work halted for lack of funds and only restarted thirty years later under another Pope (Innocent XII), who at first seemed intent on turning it into a hospice for the poor but then decided to use it as the seat of the Apostolic Curia. However, following the Unification of Italy and the annexation of the Papal State, the decision to move the capital to Rome meant that suitable locations had to be found for the realm's principal entities. When various options for the House of Deputies were discarded - including the Campidoglio (now city hall) and Palazzo Venezia - the choice fell on Montecitorio and work went ahead rapidly on adapting the old palace to its new requirements.

Art and art works galore
The Montecitorio Palace contains a collection of more than a thousand paintings and thousands of engravings and prints from various epochs, a significant number of archaeological pieces, as well as a large quantity of art objects, such as clocks, pendulum clocks, antique furniture, busts and sculptures accumulated during the 130 years of the Palace's parliamentary life. A significant number of these items are the property of the various offices of State Art. The majority are from the 17th and 18th centuries and were acquired over the years to meet the needs of furnishing the institutional rooms of the Parliament building.