Palazzo Bernabei was designed by Assisi-born painter and architect Giacomo Giorgetti in the mid-17th century for the heirs of Bishop Francesco Sperelli.
The three-storey building is built around a large central courtyard adorned with a series of columns and arches. The portico that runs around it is decorated with frescoes and sculptures. The main entrance to the palace is through a large arch, flanked by two smaller arches. The building’s interior is decorated with frescoes, sculptures and other works of art.
On the first floor there is a large reception hall, a library and smaller rooms in sequence. The second floor houses several bedrooms, while on the third floor there are a number of private apartments.
In 1881 Palazzo Bernabei was given to the Capuchin friars by Roman prince Alessandro Torlonia and since 1926 it has been the seat of the provincial curia of the Capuchins friars of Umbria. In 1928 it also became the seat of the Franciscan Museum, which housed an important iconographic collection of Franciscan paintings, drawings and prints that was transferred to Rome in 1955. Since 1972, the Missionary Museum of the Indios of the Amazon (MUMA) has been annexed to the Palazzo, which since 1993 has also been the seat of the Department of Economics of Tourism of the University of Perugia.
Audio guide: no
Guided tours: no
Toilets: yes
Information point: yes
Shop: no
Cafes: no
Cloakroom: no
Accessibility: accessible
Opening hours:
open Monday to Friday during university hours;
Saturday and Sunday closed.
Admission: free.
Via San Francesco, 19
Palazzo Bernabei is almost at the end of the Via San Francesco, not far from the Basilica of St. Francis.
On foot: the building can be reached easily from anywhere in town.
By bus: 550 metres from the C line bus stop San Francesco, in Piazza Giovanni Paolo II; 250 metres from A-B line bus stop Porta S. Giacomo.
By car: access to the historical centre of Assisi is permitted to authorised vehicles only. The nearest pay car park is the Giovanni Paolo II.
