Palazzo dei Priori

Tarquinia's Palazzo dei Priori took shape in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries through the joining of several private buildings. Its towered silhouette resembles a fortress. Part of the palace houses the Società Tarquiniense d'Arte e Storia (STAS) and its Museum of Everyday Ceramics of Corneto.

Why it matters

The historian Luigi Dasti gave the building the name Palazzo dei Priori, but historical evidence does not confirm that a body of priors met there. The palace is now divided between private owners and the STAS wing on Via delle Torri. Founded in 1917 by archaeologist Giuseppe Cultrera, the association preserves a museum of everyday pottery and household objects that offers a view into the material life of medieval Corneto.

What to notice

The museum displays objects from the palace's butti, the deep refuse pits where medieval households discarded broken goods. One pit remains visible opposite the museum entrance. The collection also includes finds from the Cultrera collection, gathered between 1993 and 1995 from the historic centre. More than three hundred artefacts are displayed, including domestic ceramics, coins, glass, jewellery, bronze, worked bone and iron tools. A 2011 reinstallation presented the finds alongside their restoration histories.

The STAS archive preserves correspondence of poet Vincenzo Cardarelli, papers of the Corneto families Falzacappa, Guaglia, Bruschi and Falgari, sixteenth-century notarial protocols, seventeenth-century parish registers, chronicles of Muzio Polidori and records of the 1848–49 trials. The Sala Sacchetti, entered from Via dell'Archetto, hosts cultural events.

Context and history

The palace was built as the free commune of Corneto consolidated its walled town. Towers signalled both defence and family prestige. It later passed into private ownership and became a scholarly centre. The museum first opened in 1993; the STAS, recognised as an Ente Morale in 1973, continues its work of preserving and studying local history.