Palazzo delle Canoniche

(15th - 18th Centuries)

Canons of San Lorenzo

The earliest surviving documentary reference to the canons of San Lorenzo dates to 1033.  By 1163, when the Emperor Frederick I confirmed the privileges that had been granted to them by the Emperor Henry II early in the 11th century, they had accumulated a large portfolio of properties and other goods. 

The canons adopted the Augustinian Rule in the middle of the 12th century.  This required them to relinquish their individual assets (although they continued to own their considerable property in common) and to live in a semi-monastic community.  However, in 1512 Pope Julius II decreed that they should revert to the secular state.  The new chapter had an Archpriest, an Archdeacon and fifteen canons drawn largely from the Perugian aristocracy.  This arrangement persisted until the 19th century, when the Jesuit-educated Cardinal Gioacchino Pecci, Archbishop of Perugia decreed that the canons should be priests drawn from the graduates of the seminary.

Ancient Palazzo delle Canoniche

 
 Pope Benedict XI conceding the
Dominican Indulgence
Miniature (1343) in ms. 975
Biblioteca Augusta
The canons' first palace was built next to the old Duomo at an early date.  Part of it was incorporated into the adjacent Palazzo del Podestàin 1284 to form a new palace for Pope Martin IV.  (The excavated foundations of this palace can be seen inside the Museo Capitolare - see below).  Pope Martin IV died here in 1285, as did Pope Benedict IX in 1301.  The miniature to the right shows this last pope just before his death conceding a perpetual indulgence to those attending the Dominican church of San Stefano del Castellare on the feast of the discovery of the relics of St Stephen.  The loggia depicted above Pope Benedict is the predecessor of the Loggia di Braccio, with the old campanile of the Duomo to the right.  This palace burned down in 1329.



Present Palazzo delle Canoniche

The present palace was begun in the late 15th century and continued into the 18th century.  It extends to the west and north of the Duomo, bounded by Via Maestà delle Volte, Piazza Cavallotti and Via Cantine (see below).  The part of the palace facing Piazza IV Novembre (to the left of the Loggia di Braccio) was adapted as the Palazzo del Seminario in the 16th century.


The suggested itinerary around the palace starts at the exit from the Sacristy of the Duomo, which leads into the first cloister.  

  • There is an interesting well incorporated into the wall to your left.

  • Across and to the right is the entrance to the Biblioteca Dominicini, which was created in 1695 to house the collection of books that Antonio Dominicini left to the Cathedral Chapter.





  • A red marble inscription in the wall to the left of this entrance records that Fra Wintherius (in Italian, Winterio) brought the Virgin’s wedding ring to Perugia in 1473.  It is now in the Cappella di Sant' Anello in the Duomo. 


  • There is a fine view behind you of the apse of the Duomo and of the campanile (1606-12), which replaced an earlier one that was demolished in 1462.





  • Another inscription at the other end of this wall records the five papal conclaves that were held (in 1216, 1265, 1285, 1294 and 1305) in the Palazzo delle Canoniche.





  • The entrance in the wall to the left of it leads to the rooms of the palace that now house the Museo Capitolare.

On leaving the museum, take the stairs diagonally opposite, which lead down to the second cloister (15th century).  This contains three orders of colonnades along two of its sides: the other two walls were walled in for defensive purposes.  The upper storey was added in 1616.




Walk on to the exit into Piazza Cavallotti (see Walk II) and look behind you to see the curtain wall of the palace.





Turn right into Via Baldeschi and immediately right again into Via Cantine, which is named for the cellars of the palace.  It seems that wine from these cellars had to be used in 1315 to put out a fire that threatened the palace.  Huge stones that probably belonged to the walls of the Roman forum have been re-used as the foundations of the walls on the right.  


The buildings beyond, at number 6 - 8, have the arms of the canons of San Lorenzo on their portals and the date of their completion, 1745.


Continue into Piazza Danti and around the exterior of the Duomo to rejoin Walk I.