Piazza di Corte

Piazza di Corte in Ariccia is the centre of a Baroque ensemble associated with Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Chigi patronage. Palazzo Chigi, the collegiate church and curved architectural elements give the square a strongly composed character.

Why it matters

The square formed part of a wider renewal of the town rather than an isolated building project. Architecture, fountains and the organisation of surrounding streets expressed the ambitions of the Chigi family under Pope Alexander VII.

What to notice

Palace and church address the same open space. Arcaded curves and the two seventeenth-century fountains help draw the different buildings into a shared composition. Chigi heraldic motifs recur across the ensemble. The scale of the square makes the relationship between individual architecture and the larger urban setting particularly clear.

Context and history

The Chigi acquisition of Ariccia in 1661 began a major campaign of transformation. Bernini developed the project with Carlo Fontana's collaboration, including the palace, church and other civic and service buildings. Drawings and Giovanni Battista Falda's engraved views of 1670 preserve the development and early appearance of the ensemble.