Key to Umbria: Terni
 


Palazzo Mazzancolli (15th century)


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Giovanni Mazzancolli, the nephew of Bishop Ludovico Mazzancolli, built this palace.   It retains much of its original appearance, despite its radical re-modeling in 1873 and again in 1933 (see below). 

The façade incorporates the remains of two 14th century towers from an earlier building, as well as a number of medieval fragments.  The Mazzancolli arms are embedded near the balcony.



The painted arms of Pope Pius II, who stayed here in 1459, can be seen [in the vault on the upper level of the portico in the central courtyard]. 


The palace stayed in the Mazzancolli family until the early 18th century, after which it fell into ruins.  The Congregazione di Carità di Terni bought it in 1873 and  subsequently restored it.  They moved the  Monti di Pietà (for which they had responsibility) here from Piazza della Repubblica (see Walk I) in 1879.  The external staircase in the courtyard was rebuilt in 1926.



     

The Fascist Party bought the palace in 1933.  The photograph on the left records the inauguration of a “Sacrario dei Caduti Fascisti” (memorial chapel to those who died for the Fascist cause) in a room off the courtyard in 1935.  It was dismantled in 1944, when anti-Fascist partisans of the Gramsci Brigade retook the city.

The relief of the Pietà (1633) by Simone Lapi, which is shown in the photograph above the door to this memorial chapel, has an interesting history.   It was executed for the palace of the Monte di Pietà in what is now Piazza della Repubblica and moved with the Monte di Pietà to this location in Palazzo Mazzancolli in 1879.  It was moved again to the Duomo after the Second World War.  Bishop Vincenzo Paglia gave it to the Cassa di Risparmio di Terni e Narni in 2007, and can now be seen in their headquarters in Corso Cornelio Tacito (see Walk II).


The palace passed to the state after the Second World War, and housed a barracks until 1965.  The City Archives were moved here in 1970.  The palace is also used for cultural exhibitions.

A marble bust of a man (late 1st century BC), which was found during work on Palazzo Mazzancolli [when ??] is now in the Museo Archeologico.








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