Palazzo dei Priori

On the east side of Piazza dei Priori stands Narni's medieval government palace, with a loggia attributed to Gattapone, a civic tower overlooking the valley and the pulpit-like Loggetta where town criers read proclamations. The building is associated with the Corsa all'Anello and its multimedia museum.

Why it matters

Umbria built few civic palaces of this confidence. Raised in the second half of the thirteenth century over the Roman forum and enlarged with a daring sixteenth-century loggia, the Palazzo dei Priori housed Narni's magistratures and later a school, before becoming associated with the city's festival tradition. Its three principal features — the arcaded loggia, tower and crier's pulpit — reflect the civic institutions of medieval Italian communes.

What to notice

• The loggia attributed to Gattapone of Gubbio, the architect also linked to the Rocca Albornoziana, has a central pillar with bevelled outer corners, two arcades and a vault divided into four sail cross-ribs.
• The Orsini coat of arms above the central pillar, with traces of inscriptions, frescoes and broad windows across the walls.
• The iron rings of the Gogna, a surviving element associated with the medieval pillory.
• The thirteenth-century civic tower and the Loggetta del Banditore between tower and loggia, where public notices were read and, by tradition, San Bernardino da Siena preached. On 13 June 1944, the day of Narni's liberation, the city's first mayor was proclaimed from the pulpit.
• The Ente Corsa all'Anello, a museum of the festival's medieval costumes and the Museo Multimedievale.

Context and history

It was the commune's most assertive age: in the second half of the thirteenth century the palace rose over Narnia's ancient forum — the Platea Major of the Middle Ages, the Piazza dei Priori of today. The sixteenth century added the loggia that the sources attribute to Gattapone. In 1618 the building passed to the Padri Scolopi, who installed a boarding house and the town's school and stayed until the mid-nineteenth century, after which further transformations and a recent restoration carried the palace into civic reuse. The palace has a historic association with the Ente Corsa all'Anello and the festival's costume collection, alongside the multimedia museum. The annual opening bando recalls the Loggetta del Banditore's medieval role as the city's mouthpiece.