Fortezza Orsini (Palazzo Orsini)

Palazzo Orsini in Pitigliano combines the defensive form of a fortress with the character of a Renaissance residence. Its courtyard, carved well and museum rooms preserve material traces of the town's history under the Aldobrandeschi and Orsini families.

Why it matters

The palace served as the seat of the Orsini county before Pitigliano passed to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It later became associated with the bishopric. Today its rooms house collections of local archaeology and diocesan art.

What to notice

The travertine portal, dated to around 1490, bears the arms of Niccolò III Orsini. In the courtyard, a six-arched portico frames a hexagonal well carved with the Orsini arms. The palace's art includes a Madonna and Child signed by Guidoccio Cozzarelli in 1464 and a painting of the Assumption by Girolamo di Benvenuto, dated around 1497.

Context and history

The Aldobrandeschi held the fortress before it passed to the Orsini through the marriage of Margherita Aldobrandeschi and Romano Orsini in 1293. The medieval stronghold was transformed into a residence in the fifteenth century. After Pitigliano's annexation to the Grand Duchy in 1608, the palace passed to the bishop in 1793. The diocesan museum opened there in 1989, with additional rooms added from 1998.