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Palazzo Pierret is a historic building in Rome, which has been declared a part of the Italian national heritage of the highest artistic and historical value by the Ministry of Culture. The building extends from Piazza di Spagna, where the front of the building is to be found overlooking the Fontana della Barcaccia, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, to Piazza di Trinità dei Monti, next to the Spanish Steps which were planned in 1700 by Francesco De Sanctis, one of the most famous architects of the time. It can undoubtedly be considered one of the most important historical buildings in the world.
The first information on the building dates back to the sixteenth century. Maps from the end of the 1500s and paintings of the period, following the inauguration of the Church of Trinità dei Monti in 1585, already show the elegant building with remarkable accuracy. In the following century the whole area of Piazza di Spagna acquires international fame, becoming one of the most popular destinations in the city of Rome. Here in 1647 the Embassy of Spain made its home which gives the square its name.
In 1726, following the plans of De Sanctis, the imposing steps of Piazza di Spagna are built. In this period, Palazzo Pierret undergoes its first alteration to bring it into line, along with the neighboring buildings, with the new bourgeois canons and decorative requirements of the steps: it loses, therefore, its peculiarities of a sixteenth-century palace and takes on a more modern look that will remain unchanged until the early nineteenth century. And it is in this period that Ernesto Pierret buys the building which until then belonged to the Vescovali family.
Ernesto Pierret was a famous French engraver who moved from Paris to Rome to establish his business in the Piazza di Spagna area where artists, writers and personalities from the world of French culture had already made their homes. In these years the decorative work on the palace continues and the building is extended with the addition of the fourth floor and the panoramic terrace. Palazzo Pierret thus acquires neoclassical forms while leaving unaltered the primary elements of the previous composition. This restructuring will improve the aesthetic features of the palace which have remained unchanged since then. Recently, thanks to a careful restoration, Palazzo Pierret has been returned to the look and colors of the past.
