| It stands in the heart of the Town.
It was built according to the wish of Ascanio Colonna in 1532,
within a project of transformation of the ancient medieval buildings
.
Antonio da San Gallo il Giovane was commissioned to design
the project, later carried on only partially. The new Palace
incorporates the previous castle built by the Orsini (still
visible). It was constructed according to the structure in Caprarola,
where the noble mansion is the centre of the town. The building
works lasted very long; in 1653 there were some painters to
be paid for their works.
At the ground floor there is the large room of the ‘Papi';
its name is due to the fact that on the walls there are the
portraits of the Popes, starting from that of San Peter. These
portraits were copied to decorate the San Peter's Basilica
in Rome, after the fire that destroyed it in the 19th century.
The present form of the Palace is the result of some restoring
works after the second world war, as it had been completely
destroyed by an air raid in 1944.
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