Palazzo del Governatore di Borgo

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Drawing of the facade attributed to Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. Uffizi, 201 A. The drawing bears the inscription: Di m.ro Antonio in Borgo[1]

The Palazzo del Governatore di Borgo, also called Palazzo delle Prigioni di Borgo, Palazzo del Soldano, or Palazzo dal Pozzo, was a Renaissance palace in Rome, important for artistic and historical reasons. Designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, it was demolished in 1936 for the opening of Via della Conciliazione.

Location

The palace was in the

San Pietro.[2][3] It was between the streets of Borgo Nuovo (to the north, opposite the church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, where it had the main entrance)[1] and Borgo Vecchio (to the south). To the west it overlooked the vicolo dritto ("straight alley"), "one among the stinkiest in the zone" in the 1930s.[4][5]

Designations

The palace bore several names: Palazzo del Governatore di Borgo, Palazzo delle Prigioni di Borgo, Palazzo del Soldano or Palazzo dal Pozzo.[1] The first two denominations were linked to its public functions (governor's residence and jail). The third derived either from having been the prison of Turks captured during the Battle of Lepanto, who were imprisoned here for a short time, or from having been the seat of the "Soldano", that is, the chief of the papal police. The fourth derived from its having been the residence of the dal Pozzo family.[1]

History

In 1501 Fabiano de' Cavallicci, a

Baldassarre Peruzzi.[1][5]

Ferrari probably died during the

coats of arms of the dal Pozzo family carved on two keystones in the hall and in the courtyard of the building.[1] However, no document related to the building in which the name of dal Pozzo is mentioned has been found so far.[1]

In 1571 an heir of Arditio, Girolamo, sold the building to the Apostolic Chamber.

Clement X (r. 1670–1676) in the year of his death.[6] The jurisdiction of the magistrate extended from the S. Pietro gate by Castel Sant'Angelo to Porta Settimiana in Trastevere.[6] Being a key position, the governor was almost always a relative of the pontiff.[6]

During this period the building witnessed truculent events and hosted important persons in its prison, which was similar to other Roman jails but without necessary services such as the infirmary. In 1561 a boy working by the osteria del cavalletto ("

Anton Maria Salviati.[6][5] In March 1599 three guards of the Bargello were hanged in front of the prisons after having been accused of burglary against the "procaccio of Naples", the postal courier for the campanian city, which they were supposed to escort.[6][8]

In 1676 the palace was transformed into a rental house, and with the years it deteriorated greatly: at the time of its demolition in 1936 it was devoid of the window

attic to bring it to the level of the portals of the other edifices of the road, was reassembled on the new building in via della Conciliazione n. 15.[8]

Architecture

The reassembled portal of the Palazzo del Pozzo in via della Conciliazione 15, Rome

The building, presenting the grim appearance of a massive tower,[5] was erected in a low-length longitudinal plot.[9] It had a ground floor in travertine with large bossage, with a base shoe that reached the first belt course.[4] In the center of the facade was a portal flanked by two shops, following the example of the Forum of Caesar in Rome.[1][9] The ground floor was surmounted by two brick floors marked by mighty corner bossage;[4] the first was marked by six windows with aediculas flanked by half-columns supported by corbels similar to those used on the top floor of Palazzo Farnese, derived from the entrance portal of the Trajan's Market towards Quirinal Hill.[10] Each of the six windows on the second floor was surmounted by a triangular tympanum. The attic windows opened in the eaves were supported by brackets.[1][4]

According to Paolo Portoghesi, Palazzo dal Pozzo is one of the first works showing the artistic maturity of Sangallo, whose culture was "now free from uncertainties and consciously directed to the re-acquisition of classical elements".[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Gigli (1990), p. 126
  2. ^ Delli (1988), p. 194
  3. ^ Delli (1988), p. 199
  4. ^ a b c d Cambedda (1990), p. 58
  5. ^ a b c d e Ceccarelli (1938), p. 24
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gigli (1990), p. 128
  7. ^ Borgatti (1926), p. 167
  8. ^ a b c Gigli (1990), p. 130
  9. ^ a b Portoghesi (1970), p. 83
  10. ^ a b Portoghesi (1970), p. 84

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Palazzo del Governatore di Borgo (Roma).
  • Borgatti, Mariano (1926). Borgo e S. Pietro nel 1300 – 1600 – 1925 (in Italian). Roma: Federico Pustet.
  • Ceccarelli, Giuseppe (Ceccarius) (1938). La "Spina" dei Borghi (in Italian). Roma: Danesi.
  • Portoghesi, Paolo (1970). Roma del Rinascimento (in Italian). Milano: Electa.
  • Delli, Sergio (1988). Le strade di Roma (in Italian). Roma: Newton & Compton.
  • Gigli, Laura (1990). Guide rionali di Roma (in Italian). Vol. Borgo (I). Roma: Fratelli Palombi Editori.
    ISSN 0393-2710
    .
  • Cambedda, Anna (1990). La demolizione della Spina dei Borghi (in Italian). Roma: Fratelli Palombi Editori.
  • ISBN 8842072362
    .

External links

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