Passetto dei Cardinali and Querini Apartment

The Passetto or Passageway is the block that connects the  north and south wings of Palazzo Venezia, dating back to the time of Cardinal Marco Barbo (1421-1490). Indeed, it was he who first defined the western boundary of the building along via degli Astalli by building an uncovered, crenellated patrol walkway. However, it was Cardinal Angelo Maria Querini (1680-1755) who covered it and equipped the space with windows, transforming it into a true corridor, which could be used to reach the new apartment that had been built in the north-western wing of the palace. 

Since 2004, the display cases lining the Passetto have housed part of the porcelain collections. The pieces, which range from Asian to European production, mostly came into the collection through the 1919 Ruffo di Motta Bagnara donation and the 1933 Tower-Wurts donation. 

At the end of the Passetto is the Querini Apartment. Cardinal Querini, taking advantage of an unfinished tower, created a small summer residence consisting of three rooms and a roof terrace, which was reserved for the titular cardinals. In one room of the Querini Apartment, a selection of the sumptuous collection of Northern European and Italian silver, from the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, is exhibited.