Palazzo Comunale di Spello

Spello's medieval Town Hall stands on Piazza della Repubblica, with ogival arcades, a clock tower and traces of Roman masonry reused in its construction. The building preserves a record of the town's communal government and its civic collections.

Why it matters

The palace was built in 1270 on the site of an earlier civic building. It now houses the town's historic archive, an ancient library collection and the Accademia di Studi Costantiniani, which studies the Rescript of Constantine concerning Hispellum.

What to notice

The ground-floor ogival arches once formed an open loggia. Above them, blocked Romanesque bifore windows record an earlier phase of the façade. Roman architectural fragments are incorporated into the atrium. The palace's rooms preserve frescoes attributed to Ascensidonio Spacca and the Rescriptum of Constantine.

Context and history

The palace was commissioned by podestà Giacomo del Mastro and built by the master builder Prode. Alterations followed the end of Baglioni rule, and a seventeenth-century extension added another floor. Restoration in 1939 and repairs after the 1997 earthquake shaped the building's present appearance. The municipal offices moved elsewhere in 1972, while the palace continued to serve as a home for the town's records and collections.