Palazzo della Corgna

In front of the majestic Cathedral of Città della Pieve, stands Palazzo della Corgna, one of the most representative buildings of the village. This stately home is closely linked to Ascanio della Corgna, nephew of Pope Julius III and a key figure of the Italian Renaissance. Governor of Città della Pieve and valiant leader in the Battle of Lepanto, Ascanio commissioned the construction of the Palace in 1550, entrusting the project to the architect Galeazzo Alessi.

The façade, elegant and imposing, reflects the harmony and rigor of Renaissance architecture, while inside extraordinary frescoes are revealed. Among these, the mythological and sacred scenes decorated with “grotesques”, subtle vegetal and zoomorphic ornaments inspired by the Domus Aurea, stand out. The Governor’s Hall, on the ground floor, frescoed by Nicolò Pomarancio, celebrates the prestige of the Corgna family through images of muses and divinities. The beautiful fresco of the Concert of the Muses is famous. On the first floor is the stupendous Great Hall with frescoes by Salvio Savini, from 1580, among which the famous Conference of the Gods stands out.

Today, Palazzo della Corgna houses, on the ground floor, the “Francesco Melosio” Municipal Library and, on the first floor, the Museum of Natural History and the Territory of Città della Pieve. Here, culture and science intertwine in a fascinating journey that combines the art of the ceilings expertly frescoed by Filiberto Capannini from Pieve in 1936, with naturalistic collections.