Roman Holiday at Palazzo Colonna: the ending, and only the ending

The press conference at the end of the film was shot in the Great Hall. That is the whole claim and this page is not going to stretch it. The operator’s sentence is: “The ending scene from the 1953 classic film Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was shot at the gallery.” One scene. The rest of the film was made elsewhere in Rome, and none of the rest of it is claimed by this building.

FilmRoman Holiday

Year1953

StarsAudrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck

The sceneThe ending

The roomThe Great Hall

Other scenes hereNone claimed

Why the claim is worth keeping small

Film locations grow. A building gets one scene, a guidebook rounds it up to “scenes”, and within a decade the whole picture was shot there. I have heard this palace credited with more of Roman Holiday than it has ever claimed for itself, usually by people repeating each other, and the correction is dull enough that nobody makes it.

So, plainly: the ending. The press conference, in the Great Hall, in a film released in 1953. If you want more of the film’s Rome you will find it outside, and not from me, because this site is about one building and I have not verified the rest.

The room it happens in

It is the gallery — the second stop on the route, up a short flight of stairs from the first, with a cannonball from 1849 lodged in those stairs. The room works on film for the same reason it works in person: it was built as one continuous space rather than a run of chambers, so a camera can hold the whole thing at once and a crowd of extras still looks small in it.

You may be about to ask how long the room is. Nobody publishes that, and the page on the Great Hall explains why it prints no figure rather than borrowing one.

Folded crimson velvet with a coil of gold braid on a dark surface — Crimson velvet and gold braid, photographed as fabric. Set-dressing materials of the period — not the Great Hall, and not photographed at the palace.

What this page cannot tell you

No shooting dates, no crew stories, no account of how the production came to be in a private house. The palace publishes one sentence about the film and I have not found a second source I trust for anything beyond it. An empty space is a better answer than a filled one when the filling is guesswork.

Standing in it

Friday morning by reservation, or Saturday between 9:15 and 13:15. That is the entire window, and it is the same window for everything else in the building — the hours and the two doors are here.

Insider tip

Go in knowing which end of the room the scene uses and then look at the ceiling instead. The vault was finished in 1702 and carries the Battle of Lepanto; the film crew had a better set than they could have built and the reason is up there.

Book the admission

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure on most tours — book now, decide later.

Frequently asked questions

Was Roman Holiday filmed at Palazzo Colonna?

The ending scene was. The operator states that the ending of the 1953 film, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was shot at the gallery. That is the whole claim — no other scene is attributed to the building.

Which room is the Roman Holiday press conference?

The Great Hall, the gallery itself, which is the second stop on the operator’s route through the palace.

Can you visit the Roman Holiday room?

Yes, on the ordinary ticket. The Great Hall is on the route, and the route runs on Friday mornings by reservation and on Saturday from 9:15 to 13:15.