Our origins are ancient, just look at neighbours. In ancient Rome, just a few metres from where the superb Palazzo Manfredi boutique hotel now stands, were four barracks, accommodations and a training school for gladiators fighting in the Colosseum. In 1937, the remains of the largest gladiatorial school were discovered, the Ludus Magnus, located at the foot of the hotel. Twenty years later, an archaeological dig was started, finishing in 1961.
The splendid building of the Palazzo Manfredi began life in the 17th century as the villa of the Evangelisti family, designed by architect Giovanni Battista Mola. It then passed to the Venerabile Confraternita della Ss Trinità dei Pellegrini e dei Convalescenti (Venerable Fraternity of the Holy Trinity of Pilgrims and Convalescents), as commemorated by the two stones on the façade. The villa was completely rebuilt in the 18th century, becoming the hunting lodge of the noble Guidi family and, from 1748, this area was known as "Giardino Guidi".
In 2002, the villa was purchased by Count Goffredo Manfredi, one of Italy's most famous entrepreneurs and construction magnates and, thanks to him, Palazzo Manfredi, is now a superb luxury hotel. In commemoration of the past, and of the distinction of the noble Manfredi family, you can still read today two Latin inscriptions on the turret, "Fortuna duce", with fortune as guide, and "Virtute Comite", with virtue as companion, quoting Cicerone's famous maxim.