Palazzo dei Priori

Why it matters

Perugia's communal palace grew over more than a century into a major Gothic civic building. The Palazzo dei Priori still houses municipal institutions and the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, whose collections have occupied its upper floors since the late nineteenth century. Its layers of construction trace the city's civic and political history.

What to notice

The travertine facade is articulated by tracery windows and a sequence of portals. Above the main portal, statues represent Perugia's patron saints Lorenzo, Ercolano and Costanzo. The vaulted ground-floor hall opened in 1294 for the Capitano del Popolo and is known as the Sala dei Notari. On the Via dei Priori side, a three-arched loggia designed by Galeazzo Alessi dates to 1570–1572; the internal staircase is associated with Vincenzo Danti.

Context and history

The gallery's palace history dates the first architectural core to 1292; construction continued into the mid-fifteenth century. A hall for the Capitano del Popolo opened in 1294, and a second block for the priors was built between 1317 and 1326. Guild spaces were added over time, including rooms for the money-changers. Later phases added frescoed halls and a priors' chapel. Alterations in the Baroque and nineteenth centuries changed the building's exterior; restorations after Italian unification rebuilt crenellations and reopened windows.