PENNONI PALACE

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION

A fifteenth-century coat of arms of the Aliotti family, present in one of the rooms of the palace, suggests that the previous building was originally owned by this family. The current palace, as can be seen from the still existing side coats of arms, was built by the Pennoni family, one of the most important in Montefiascone in the 16th and 17th centuries. The same family also owned another building on the same street, at a distance from the one from the Monte di Pietà headquarters, towards the church of Sant’Andrea. Captain Romeo Pennoni, who lived in the palace in the seventeenth century, was one of the most prominent characters in the city, while numerous other members of the family appeared, during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, among the notables and administrators of the community. The building, which has the constructive peculiarity of a brick curtain wall, a large ashlar portal and windows surmounted by circular and triangular tympanums, was attributed to the architect Jacopo Barozzi known as Vignola due to its clear design and architectural style. In 1819 the building belonged to the Profili family and after about a century the owner was the architect Luigi Codini, who kept it until 1935, when the building was bought at auction by Ms. Corona Ferraris. In those years, in addition to an olive press, the “Baby Jesus” kindergarten and some female elementary classes were also temporarily located on the ground floor of the house.

ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

G. Breccola – M. Mari, Montefiascone, Grotte di Castro 1979.
G. Breccola, Montefiascone. Guida alla scoperta, Montefiascone 2006.