The Italian Senate (Italian: Senato della Repubblica, 'Senate of the Republic') is the upper house of the Parliament of Italy. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but it existed during the monarchy as Senato del Regno, ('Senate of the Kingdom'), continuing from the Subalpine Parliament of Piedmont established on 8 May 1848.

The Senate consists of 315 elected members (senatori), elected for a maximum of 5 years, of whom six represent Italians residing overseas. Senators must be 40 or older, and are elected by citizens 25 years of age or over. According to special constitutional provisions, 'life senators' may exist, either former presidents, as ex officio life senators, or those appointed by the president "for outstanding merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field". As of 2006, there are seven life senators: Francesco Cossiga (former President), Oscar Luigi Scalfaro (former President), Giulio Andreotti (former Prime Minister), Rita Levi Montalcini (Nobel Prize winner for Medicine 1986), Emilio Colombo (former Prime Minister), Sergio Pininfarina (Designer), Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (former President). Giorgio Napolitano (former President of the Chamber of Deputies and former leader of the Communist Party), currently President of the Republic, is no longer a member of the Senate, and will be able to resume his duties as a senator in 2013 at the earliest.

Senate members meet at the Palazzo Madama in Rome.

The Senate may be dissolved before the expiration of its normal term by the President of the Republic, when no government can obtain a majority.