Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo and Civic Tower

The Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo is an impressive building standing on the northern side of the central square of Assisi.
It stands next to the Torre del Popolo (“People’s Tower”), which was built together with it, and the Temple of Minerva. It was completed in 1282 under the Captain of the People, Guidone de’ Rossi from Florence, who for the occasion placed a commemorative plaque there and had his coat of arms set in the wall between two shields with a cross, the symbol of the Commune of Assisi. In 1442 it was almost entirely destroyed during the sack of the town by Niccolò Piccinino; it was restored in the 16th century when it was used as a public school.

The palace is made in white limestone from Mt. Subasio, with three floors and four large round-arched portals which were originally for shops and salt warehouses. The façade is decorated with the coats of arms of various podestas and with the plaque of the Terziere of Santa Maria.
The splendid building was restored in 1926 in a neo-14th-century style, which also involved the adding of the Guelph battlements in place of the previous gable roof. The paintings on the ground floor were done by Adalberto Lavorati and are inspired by embroidery work, the Assisi stitch, and the art of potters. Fragments of the old decoration of the halls and the chapel can still be seen, now displayed in the rooms of the Municipal Painting Gallery in Palazzo Vallemani.

The Torre del Popolo stands right next to the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo. It is a structure with a rectangular plan and, with its imposing size and height of 47 meters, it is a symbol of the political and cultural vivacity of Assisi, especially in reference to the period of its construction, which began around the year 1257. The tower was built for the magistracy of the Captain of the People, of which we have reports in Assisi from the year 1267. Construction was completed in 1305, as we can read on the plaque to the left of the portal, which gives the date and the name of Captain Cabrino from Parma, who held the office at that time. Evidence of various stages of construction is also provided by numerous frescoes, which always place it at the center of the various depictions of Assisi. A plaque at the base of the tower gives the standard measures used in the town in the 14th century, with the shapes of the roof tiles, floor tiles and bricks, and the measurements of wool, linen and silk fabrics.

In October 2022 the civic tower was finally opened to the public, thus becoming part of the town museum circuit. Thanks to the renovation and redefining of the interior spaces, visitors can enjoy a splendid panoramic view of the town and see up close the Bell of the Lauds, which hangs in the first belfry. The presence of this bell gives further weight to the symbolic value of the tower, also imbuing it with a strong religious significance.
The bell was in fact cast on the occasion of the seventh centenary of the death of Saint Francis and bears an engraving of the “Canticle of the Sun”; it is the work of the sculptor Luigi Pettinari from Tolentino. A small photography exhibition, set up in the room next to the first belfry, narrates the various stages in the making of the bell, the effort of the townspeople in attempting to hoist it, and the celebrations held on the day of its inauguration.