Palazzo dei Priori (Volterra)

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The Palazzo dei Priori, main facade facing the Piazza dei Priori
View of heraldic shields inside the palace

The Palazzo dei Priori is a communal palace in the Tuscan city ​​of Volterra . It is the oldest palace of its kind in Tuscany that has been preserved.

Location and building history

Photo by Paolo Monti , 1978

The palace is located in the historic center of Volterra in Piazza dei Priori . There was an elm tree in the square , under which the consuls of the city met before the palace was built.

The palace was built from 1208 to 1254 or 1257. At the time of construction, it was an architectural novelty of Italian municipal palaces. Until then, public buildings mostly had only one additional floor for the council chamber above the open market hall in the basement, for example in Bergamo , Milan or Como . In relation to their height, these buildings were also very wide. In this palace, three more floors were built above the originally open hall on the ground floor. The arcades of the hall on the ground floor were pointed arches when it was built ; after the fall of Volterra to Florence in 1361, the arcades were bricked up by the Florentines in 1472. In its original state, the building also had surrounding wooden galleries , recognizable by the post holes in the outer walls. Overall, a new type of urban monumental architecture was created, and it says: "(...) a new form of monumental town house is found here, which has arisen from the spirit of Tuscan residential architecture and corresponds to the image of the tall and narrow mountain town." . Nevertheless, the architecture is considered "strict". This new construction became the model for the famous Palazzo Vecchio, which was built just a few decades later .

The tower of the palace is pentagonal and asymmetrical. The tower top was damaged in an earthquake in 1846 and then reconstructed, albeit heavily modified. The battlements of the building no longer correspond to their original appearance, the rounded shape may have been created later.

On the front are the coats of arms of the former Florentine governors, partly made of terracotta , otherwise made of stone. At the right corner of the palace a figure of the Florentine Marzocco is placed on a column.

The bi-directional windows correspond to classic Gothic architecture of the 13th century.

Interior and use

The council chamber was on the first floor, but its vault was not moved in until later, in 1516. The paintings that are visible today were not created until after the earthquake of 1846. Above were the kitchen and a dining room, and the bedrooms and living quarters one floor higher.

Until the loss of its independence, the palace was the seat of the respective Podestà Volterras from 1218 , then the Florentine priors and commissioners, and they also left their coats of arms inside.

In the palace there is now an art gallery next to the city administration . Tuscan paintings from the 14th and 15th centuries are shown in connection with the exhibits of the neighboring Museo Diocesano di Arte Sacra di Volterra .

On a clear day, visibility from the top tower platform is more than 50 kilometers to the Gulf of Piombino .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zimmermanns: Toscana - The Hill Country and the Historic City Centers , p. 323
  2. ↑ Zimmermanns: Toscana - Das Hügelland and the historic city centers , p. 325
  3. ↑ Schomann: Kunstdenkmäler in der Toskana , p. 483
  4. ↑ Zimmermanns: Toscana - The Hill Country and the Historic City Centers , p. 323
  5. ↑ Schomann: Kunstdenkmäler in der Toskana , p. 482
  6. ↑ Schomann: Kunstdenkmäler in der Toskana , p. 482
  7. ^ Paul: The medieval communal palaces in Italy , quoted in Zimmermanns: Toscana - Das Hügelland and the historic city centers , p. 323
  8. ^ Dispute: Florence - Tuscany - Umbria, Land of the Etruscans , p. 138
  9. ↑ Zimmermanns: Toscana - The Hill Country and the Historic City Centers , p. 323
  10. ↑ Schomann: Kunstdenkmäler in der Toskana , p. 482
  11. ^ Dispute: Florence - Tuscany - Umbria, Land of the Etruscans , p. 138
  12. ↑ Schomann: Kunstdenkmäler in der Toskana , p. 483

literature

  • Heinz Schomann : Art monuments in Tuscany . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1990.
  • Klaus Zimmermanns: Toscana - The hill country and the historic city centers . 9th edition, Du Mont Buchverlag, Cologne 1986 ISBN 3-7701-1050-1 .
  • Jürgen Paul: The medieval communal palaces in Italy . Dissertation, Freiburg 1963.
  • Conrad Streit: Florence - Tuscany - Umbria, land of the Etruscans . Walter-Verlag, Olten and Freiburg im Breisgau 1972. (Special edition for the Scientific Book Society Darmstadt)

Web links

Commons : Palazzo dei Priori (Volterra)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 43 ° 24 ′ 6.9 ″  N , 10 ° 51 ′ 34.6 ″  E