Palazzo dei Priori

Assisi's Palazzo dei Priori forms a long civic frontage on Piazza del Comune. Medieval structures and later additions combine in the palace that became the town hall.

Why it matters

The building records the institutions of the medieval commune and their later transformation. The priors' rooms above commercial premises connected government with the everyday economic life of the square.

What to notice

The irregular frontage reflects the joining of different building sections. Heraldic details preserve the memory of civic magistracies. Interior decoration includes Alessandro Venanzi's views of the surrounding territory and Carlo Gino Venanzi's early-twentieth-century allegorical work in the council chamber.

Context and history

Construction began in 1275, with the communal palace documented by the end of the thirteenth century. The priors occupied upper rooms in the following century. Niccolò Piccinino's troops badly damaged the complex in 1442. Later restoration and extension introduced additional civic and administrative uses, including the Monte di Pietà. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century work further adapted the palace for municipal life.