The Palazzo Arcivescovile, also palazzo dell’Arcivescovado, is a historic
palace
A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...
in
Aquila
Aquila may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Aquila'', a series of books by S.P. Somtow
* ''Aquila'', a 1997 book by Andrew Norriss
* ''Aquila'' (children's magazine), a UK-based children's magazine
* ''Aquila'' (journal), an orni ...
, seat of the
Archdiocese of L'Aquila.
History
The
Archdiocese of L'Aquila was established in 1256 with the
papal bull
A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it.
History
Papal ...
of
Pope Alexander IV
Pope Alexander IV (1199 or 1185 – 25 May 1261) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 December 1254 to his death.
Early career
He was born as Rinaldo di Jenne in Jenne, Italy, Jenne (now in the Province of Rome ...
, thanks to the transfer of the diocese of Forcona to the
new city and its elevation to
archdiocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...
. Starting from the 13th century and for the first centuries of its existence, the episcopate found its seat in the buildings adjacent to the southern front of the cathedral, where a valuable mixed civic and religious block was consolidated, especially in the Fourteenth century.
[Orlando Antonini p. 223 Antonini, 2010.]
In 1683, the bishop Ignacio de la Cerda decided to build a large new palace overlooking the Piazza del Duomo that closed the space between the cathedral and the palazzo de' Nardis, so that the entire urban core of the episcope — including the oratory of Santa Maria della Pietà of the confraternity of the same name — found itself obscured from public view.
[Orlando Antonini p. 227 Antonini, 2010.] The building was later renovated in the 18th century following the 1703 L'Aquila earthquake.
[AA.VV. p. 80 AA.VV., 2009.]
The current forms of the Archbishop's Palace are to be referred to the reconstruction carried out from 1859 by the bishop, and architect, Luigi Filippi, who revolutionised the entire complex; during this phase, to replace the previous chapel, the oratory of San Luigi Gonzaga (L'Aquila)] was also built, located in the courtyard of the episcope and from that moment on dedicated exclusively to seminarians.
[Orlando Antonini p. 229 Antonini, 2010.]
The
2009 L'Aquila earthquake
An earthquake occurred in the region of Abruzzo, in central Italy, at 03:32 Central European Time#Central European Summer Time, CEST (01:32 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC) on 6 April 2009. It was rated 5.8 or 5.9 on the Richter scale and 6.3 on ...
caused major collapses in the complex,
which is now undergoing consolidation and restoration.
Description
The palace is located in Cathedral Square, adjacent to the Cathedral of L'Aquila, and is included in the quarter of San Giovanni. It forms a vast complex, in turn included in a single aggregate with the adjacent Palazzo Arduini and Palazzo de' Nardis, being circumscribed by the streets of the Archbishopric, San Marciano and the Seminary.
The main façade, in the style of
Neo-Renaissance architecture
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...
, faces directly onto the square, squeezed between that of Palazzo de' Nardis, on the left, and the cathedral, on the right. It presents a classical scheme with three orders: the basement is characterised by five portals and a representative entrance, while the two orders above are characterised by eight holes of different shapes between one level and another.
The portal, quadrangular in shape, is not centred on the façade but located adjacent to the cathedral, in correspondence with the street inside the Archbishopric and closed in the 17th century with the building of the palace.
Inside there is the entrance to the palace and, at the front, the oratory of San Luigi Gonzaga with paintings by Giulio Cesare Bedeschini,
Pompeo Cesura and Bernardino Monaldi.
[Orlando Antonini p. 231 Antonini, 2010.]
References
Bibliography
Italian sources
*AA.VV., L'Aquila. Una città d'arte da salvare – Saving an Art City, Pescara, Carsa, 2009.
*Alessandro Clementi e Elio Piroddi, L'Aquila, Bari, Laterza, 1986.
*Orlando Antonini, Architettura religiosa aquilana, II, Todi, Tau Editrice, 2010.
*Raffaele Colapietra, L'Aquila: i palazzi, L'Aquila, Ediarte, 1997.
*Touring Club Italiano, L'Italia – Abruzzo e Molise, Milano, Touring Editore, 2005.
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Buildings and structures in L'Aquila
Palazzo Arcivescovile (L'Aquila)
Renaissance architecture in Abruzzo