Palazzo Gazzoli

The majestic palazzo which bears the name of the noble Gazzoli family who commissioned it at the end of the 18th century, was designed by the architect Andrea Vici, inspired by the architectural style of late Renaissance Roman buildings.

The properties of the Gazzoli family in the 1700s were no small matter as they stretched from Via Roma to as far as today’s Via Xl Febbraio. It was a considerable piece of land, which a wealthy family like the Gazzoli family could certainly afford. They were a bourgeois family that ran several businesses, including- together with the noble family of Marquis Sciamanna- the Pontifical ironworks across the Nera river. Their economic power allowed the Gazzoli family to become “more refined” so much so that they came to count Cardinal Luigi Gazzoli among their relatives. He had previously been the papal governor of Città di Castello, Ascoli Piceno, Loreto and Ancona was later awarded the title of Cardinal by Pius Vll, with whom he had a close and trusting relationship.

It was Luigi Gazzoli who decided to build the palazzo by renovating a series of buildings on the family’s property. A family chapel, designed by the architect Andrea Vici, was built next to the palazzo and opposite it, a stable situated in an exedra-shaped building. On the whole, it was made as harmonious as possible, considering that pre-existing building structures were also used.

A clock was added to the building used for the stable, while inside the courtyard a fountain was created using an ancient sarcophagus that is no longer there. Inside, the palazzo was enriched with excellent pictorial decorations by Liborio Coccetti. The building's state of neglect and its use as a location for public associations and housing, has seriously damaged its interior furnishings and decorations. In recent years, the building's owner, the Institute for Council Houses, thoroughly restored what remained of the private chapel and, above all, of the building destined for public use and it has become the offices of the Office of the Public Prosecutor and has two auditoriums situated in the basement.

The Gazzoli property overlooked Via Roma, at that time one of the main roads in the city with a particular structure. It had hosted a convent and had also been the site for one of the first hospitals in Terni, but they turned it into an arena, a place dedicated to shows, perhaps inspired by the fact that the stables had been built on the site of Terni’s Roman theatre, whose remains dated back to the first century A.D. The arena hosted shows and equestrian circuses. Buffalo Bill's company also performed there when on tour in Europe. In more recent times, the Gazzoli Arena became Terni’s Politeama.