All Palaces

Palazzo dei Priori is a Gothic palace in Perugia, located in Piazza IV Novembre, in the historical center of the city. Palazzo dei Priori houses today the Municipal Offices of Perugia and, on the top floors, the National Gallery of Umbria (Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria).   SHORT HISTORY Palazzo dei Priori was built in Gothic style between 1293 and 1443, a period divided into several construction phases. The irregularity of its facades is explained by the long course of construction, in which continuous additions and renovations were made. First, between 1293 and 1297, the palace for the Captain of the People (Capitano del Popolo) was built by Giacomo di Servadio and Giovanello di Benevento. Each of the two main floors of the palace comprised of a single large hall. The hall on the lower floor was originally known as the Council Hall (Sala del Consiglio), a hall used for meetings of the council which advised the Captain of the People. Later, the hall became known as the Hall of Notaries (Sala dei Notari). The hall on the second floor, known as Sala Podiani, belongs today to the National Gallery of Umbria. Between 1333 and 1337, there was the first enlargement of Read more [...]

Palazzo delle Scuderie del Quirinale (Palace of the Quirinal Stables) is a palace in Rome, located in the southern area of Piazza del Quirinale, on the opposite side of Palazzo del Quirinale.   SHORT HISTORY Palazzo delle Scuderie del Quirinale was built between 1722 and 1732 on a piece of land owned by the Colonna family, close to another building owned by the same family, the beautiful Palazzo Colonna. The project of the current palace belongs to the architect Alessandro Specchi, who was commissioned by Pope Innocent XIII to design a building intended to replace the previous one built in the early 18th century by Carlo Fontana. When Innocent XIII died, in 1730, the new Pope Clement XII entrusted Ferdinando Fuga with the task of completing the work. The building maintained its original function as a stable until 1938, the year in which it was transformed into a garage. In the 1980s, the palace was transformed into a museum of carriages. Between 1997 and 1999, it was completely restored to a design by the Friulian architect Gae Aulenti, in time for the Jubilee of the year 2000. Designed as an important exhibition space of about 1,500 square meters, it was Read more [...]

Palazzo di Giustizia is the seat of the Supreme Court of Cassation of Italy, located in Piazza Cavour, in Rome. The palace is commonly called the Palazzaccio (Bad Palace), due to its unusual dimensions, excessive decorations and laborious construction, which led, at the beginning of the 20th century, to the suspicion of corruption.   SHORT HISTORY The palace, one of the major works created after the proclamation of Rome as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, was built between 1889 and 1911 by the architect Guglielmo Calderini from Perugia. The official inauguration of the works, with the laying of the first stone, took place on the afternoon of March 14, 1889, in the presence of the sovereigns Umberto I and Margherita. The palace was inaugurated 22 years after the beginning of the works, in the presence of the King Vittorio Emanuele III, on January 11, 1911. At the end of the 1960s, the cracks and collapses increased, a commission of specialists was established to decide the fate of the monument, and most of them called for its demolition. However, the demolition cost was enormous, and it was decided to save the palace. In the 1970s, the palace underwent a Read more [...]

Palazzo della Consulta is a Baroque palace in Rome, located in Piazza del Quirinale, between Palazzo del Quirinale and Palazzo delle Scuderie del Quirinale. The palace houses the Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic since 1955.   SHORT HISTORY The palace rises on the remains of the Baths of Constantine, on the southern slope of the Quirinal Hill, replacing a previous building erected under Pope Sixtus V by Cardinal Ferrero da Vercelli to house the Sacred Congregation of the Consulta (Papal State Council) and then expanded by Pope Paul V in the early 17th century. The current palace, which was completed in 1737 under the direction of the architect Ferdinando Fuga, was commissioned by Pope Clement XII to house both the headquarters of the secretariat of the Sacred Congregation of the Consulta and Signatura dei Brevi, both the corps of Cavalrymen and that of the Noble Guard (Corazze). Between 1798 and 1814, the palace was the seat of the Prefecture of Rome, and starting with 1849, during the Roman Republic, it was the seat of the Government of the triumvirate of Giuseppe Mazzini, Carlo Armellini and Aurelio Saffi. After the annexation of Rome, between 1871 and 1874, the hereditary Prince Read more [...]