Palazzo della Corgna was built by the two brothers Ascanio and Fulvio della Corgna, nephews of Pope Julius III del Monte, both marquesses and governors of Città della Pieve and Castiglion del Lago.
The building dates back to the mid-1500s and was designed by the architect Galeazzo Alessi, who got the inspiration from the famous Palazzo Farnese in Rome, owned by Alessandro Farnese, the future Pope Paul III.
The ground floor was entirely frescoed by Niccolò Circignani, also known as il Pomarancio around the year 1564.
The ceiling of the atrium is decorated with grotesques depicting the “Cardinal and Theological virtues”, while in the cloister the two families’crest (Della Corgna and Del Monte) is visible.
The Governor’s room has a beautiful fresco, the “Concert of the Muses”, painted by the before mentioned artist, Pomarancio.
The fresco decoration continues along the monumental staircase leading to the first floor. The artist was Salvio Savini, a pupil of Poramancio, in 1580.
In the loggia is the fresco “Allegory of Time” and in the great “Sala Nobile” and the adjacent smaller rooms, among the grotesques are depicted scenes from the myths narrated in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
On the same floor is located the interesting Museum of Natural History and of the territory of Città della Pieve that contains a collection of fossils and minerals, a xylotheque and spermotheque, and a reconstruction of the geological evolution of the territory.
