Palazzo Tolomei (Siena)

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Palazzo Tolomei
Palazzo Tolomei

Palazzo Tolomei

Data
place Siena
Construction year 12./13. century
Coordinates 43 ° 19 '12.5 "  N , 11 ° 19' 52.1"  E Coordinates: 43 ° 19 '12.5 "  N , 11 ° 19' 52.1"  E

The Palazzo Tolomei is a historic building in Siena , located in the square of the same name on the main street.

History and description

Tolomei coat of arms

The well-known Sienese family settled in Italy after the arrival of Charlemagne . The Tolomei were able to use the process of change in their favor in the Tuscan city and became a powerful family of bankers, owners of towers and castles in the areas between the Montagnola Senese and the Maremma . To this family belonged the Pia dei Tolomei, quoted by Dante in Canto 5 of Purgatorio ( Purgatory ), who tells of her death by her husband, who threw the woman from a window of his castle in Maremma.

In the area of ​​Siena, then outside the city walls, the family owned a castle in the 11th and 12th centuries , which testifies to the wealth they had already achieved. The first palace was built before 1205. Because of this, it is the oldest private residence in Siena, but only the upper floors were renovated after 1267, after the building was almost completely destroyed by the Ghibellines . The reconstruction took place between 1270 and 1275. In 1277 the Tolomei residence burned down, but without affecting the structure of the building. It is now the result of a 1971 restoration and the seat of the Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze .

The gray stone facade of the palace shows the typical forms of the 13th century, with a very high ground floor and two floors, which are separated by cornices and loosened up by two rows of five elegant twin windows with pointed arches and three passages.

In the hall there are restored architectural fragments that were found during the last restoration work.

literature

  • Max Grossman: A Case of Double Identity: The Public and Private Faces of the Palazzo Tolomei in Siena . In: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians . tape 72 , no. 1 , March 2013, p. 48-77 (English).
  • Toscana . In: Guida d'Italia (Guida rossa) . Touring Club Italiano, Milan 2003, ISBN 88-365-2767-1 (Italian).
  • Giulio Prunai, Guido Pampaloni, Nello Bemporad: Il Palazzo Tolomei a Siena . Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, Florence 1971 (Italian).

Web links

Commons : Palazzo Tolomei  - collection of images, videos and audio files