PALACE OF THE ALESSANDRI

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION
It was built during the thirteenth century, a period of great expansion for both the city and the aristocracy. A few years later the building was in danger of being destroyed as a result of the abandonment of the city by the Alessandri family and Gatti family for being part of the Guelph (a member of one or two great factions in Italian medieval politics, traditionally supporting the Pope against the Holy Roman emperor and his supporters, the Ghibellines): Innocenzo IV wanted to halt the action of Tignosi and Cocco and also wanted to safeguard the building. The building underwent several restorations during the last century: the restorations were aimed at consolidating and eliminating static plaster that covered the façade. The bricks that closed the first floor windows were removed in 1908 along with the roof and internal spaces. The building has three floors and it has a profferlo (typical element of the medieval architecture of Viterbo) included in the perimeter wall, which is decorated with a star polyhedral. The façade is simplified by the opening of a segmental arch, repeated in full above the windows. The interior of the building has a wooden ceiling decorated with coffers (a decorative panel in a ceiling). The last level was lowered, perhaps as a result of the work that affected the roof. This is hidden by a parapet, in a typical medieval use.

PALAZZO OF ALESSANDRI Traduzione di Amanda Santini, California State Univeristy, Stanislaus. Programma USAC presso Univeristà degli studi della Tuscia.

ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Giuseppe Signorelli, Il primo nucleo del Museo Viterbese, in “Per l’inaugurazione del Museo Civico di Viterbo”, Viterbo, Agnesotti, 1912, pp. 15- 19.
Giuseppe Signorelli, Viterbo nella storia della Chiesa, Viterbo, 1907-1969.
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Mario Signorelli, Storia breve di Viterbo, Viterbo, Agnesotti, 1964
Simona Valtieri, La genesi umana di Viterbo, Roma, 1977.