Palazzo dei Priori e Torre Civica

Città di Castello's Palazzo dei Priori, also known as the Palazzo Comunale, was begun in 1322 under the architect Angelo da Orvieto and never completed. Beside the cathedral, the Civic Tower bears the town's clock, coats of arms and traces of a Madonna and Child fresco once painted by Luca Signorelli.

Why it matters

The palace was the seat of the Priors who governed the medieval commune and remains the headquarters of the municipal administration. Its architect, Angelo da Orvieto, was working on the Palazzo dei Consoli in Gubbio at almost the same time, placing the building among the ambitious Umbrian town halls of the early fourteenth century. Together with the Civic Tower, it defines the historic centre's main square.

What to notice

The façade is built from blocks of arenaria, the sandstone of the Upper Tiber hills. Its masonry stops after the first order of mullioned windows, recording the interruption of construction in 1338. The lunette over the main portal bears the civic coat of arms; a worn inscription on the architrave names Angelo da Orvieto. A smaller side door has a carved figure of Justice. Inside, two massive octagonal pillars support the vaulted entrance hall. The sixteenth-century staircase leads to the Sala del Consiglio, where fragments of frescoes and Roman inscriptions recall ancient Tifernum Tiberinum. The hall also preserves an Allegory of Umbria by Elmo Palazzi, while the adjacent Sala Giunta contains a Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence by Vincenzo Barboni and Garibaldian relics.

The square tower, also called the Torre del Vescovo because it adjoins the bishop's palace, bears the coats of arms of magistracies and noble families. Its clock has marked the hours since 13 July 1397. A small roof once sheltered a Madonna and Child with saints painted by Luca Signorelli in 1474. Damaged by weather and earthquakes, the fresco was removed in 1940; its surviving fragment of Saint Paul is now in the Municipal Picture Gallery.

Context and history

Construction of the palace began in 1322 and halted in 1338, when the first order of bifore windows was complete. The building was never finished to its original design. The fourteenth-century tower and its clock became lasting features of the communal centre. Signorelli was active in Città di Castello from 1474, the year he painted the tower's Madonna, which remained above the town's main street until its removal in 1940.