Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo

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.