The square of Assisi
Piazza del Comune has always been the heart of Assisi’s social, political, and cultural life. It is no coincidence that all the main streets leading from the city gates converge here.
Built above the Roman Forum, it served in the Middle Ages as the marketplace and the gathering place for the townspeople. Standing here are significant buildings such as the Tempio of Minerva, once the seat of Assisi’s magistrates; the Palazzo dei Priori; the Palazzo del Governatore; the Palazzo del Comune and the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo with its tower. By standing at the centre of the square and slowly turning around, one can read the entire history of the city in the way the various eras intertwine.
Roman Period
Roman Forum
Much of the charm of Piazza del Comune, known in the Middle Ages as the Platea Mercati, lies beneath its surface.
The ancient Roman Forum, entered through the neo-medieval building that today houses the tourist information office, was excavated in 1836. Preserved here are the long terrace wall on which the Tempio of Minerva stands, a small tetrastyle temple dedicated to Castor and Pollux, two monumental cisterns, and the Tribunal, a podium that housed the magistrates’ seats.
Tempio di Minerva
Lifting your gaze, you encounter the majestic Tempio di Minerva, with its six Corinthian columns, pediment and pronaos, instantly transporting visitors back to ancient Asisium.
The church that now occupies the perfectly preserved space of the temple is dedicated to Mary, Queen of Christian Wisdom, who succeeded Minerva, the pagan goddess of wisdom – although the tradition identifying this as Minerva’s temple has never been confirmed. A more widely accepted theory holds that the Dioscuri were venerated here. Built around 30-40 BC, the temple was once embellished with bronze friezes and inscriptions on its pediment, as well as decorated plaster, traces of which have been found on its plinths.
The building’s exceptional state of preservation should not be misleading: its history has been far from straightforward, having endured the rise and decline of the Roman Empire.
The Benedictine Restoration
After the abandonment of pagan worship, the temple was reclaimed by Benedictine monks, who established within it the church of St Donato, as well as dwellings and shops.
In 1212 the monks leased part of the temple for civic use: the city magistrates settled here, and it later became the municipal seat.
For nearly two centuries the civic tribunal occupied the pronaos, while the church of Saint Donato was used as a prison. In 1456 the ancient cella was once again set aside exclusively for worship, and in 1539 Pope Paul III ordered the restoration of the temple, dedicating it to Our Lady. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the church was updated in Baroque style with interventions by Giacomo Giorgetti, Pietro Carattoli, and Francesco Appiani. Today it is served by the Friars of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis.
Medieval Period
The Tower and Palace of the Capitano del popolo
Looking to the left of the Temple, one encounters the Torre del Popolo, rising an impressive 47 metres and completed in 1305 during the tenure of Capitano Cabrino da Parma, as recorded by an inscription at its base. It served as the residence of the Capitano del Popolo and his family.
In 1501, the ground-floor rooms were ceded to the Collegio dei Notari, and in 1531 the master carpenter Paolo di Jacopo of Gubbio crafted the entrance door, modelled on those of the Collegio del Cambio in Perugia. The battlements with Ghibelline merlons were added in 1926 to mark the seventh centenary of the death of Saint Francis.
To the left stands the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo, the first public building erected on the square, completed in 1282 to house the magistracy of the Capitano del Popolo.
Palazzo del Popolo and Palazzo dei Priori
Opposite the Tempio di Minerva stands a row of medieval buildings that for centuries formed the centre of civic life in Assisi.
To the left is the Palazzo del Popolo, built by the municipality as the seat of the Consiglio generale del popolo. It was completed around 1308, following the enlargement of the square in 1275.
The Arco dei Priori links the Palazzo del Popolo to another block purchased in 1337 to become the Palazzo dei Priori. From 1468 it housed the Monte di Pietà and underwent substantial renovation at the end of the century. Inside is the chamber of the Municipal Council.
The third building from the left is the Palazzo del Governatore, erected in the mid-fifteenth century to accommodate the Papal Governor. Completing the row is the Palazzo del Comune, finished in 1342 as the residence of the successive governors. Its façade features the Volta Pinta, frescoed in 1556 with grotesques inspired by the decorations of Nero’s Domus Aurea.
Today, as in the past, these palaces remain the centre of Assisi’s political and administrative life.
Renaissance Period
Palazzo Bonacquisti
Despite its modest scale, the square also preserves significant Renaissance architecture. Palazzo Bonacquisti is an important sixteenth-century building that belonged to the noble Bonacquisti family, lords of Panzo.
Fountain of the Three Lions
In a square that has always been the heart of civic life, a fountain – an essential feature of Medieval Italian piazzas – could not be lacking. The earliest references to the Fonte di Piazza, or Fountain of the Three Lions, date back to 1303. It was rebuilt twice: in 1467 by Polimante, son of Master Gentile, using stone slabs and small columns; and again in 1772 by Giuseppe Martinucci, a stonemason from Assisi.
The fountain takes its name from the three stone lions from whose mouths water flows. The lower basin has nine sides; a central baluster supports a second circular basin, which in turn bears another baluster topped by a pine cone.
Curiosities
Piazza del Comune “photographed” by Giotto
Among Giotto’s frescoes dedicated to St Francis is The Homage of the Simple Man, depicting a man from Assisi laying his cloak before the Saint as he passes. The episode takes place in Piazza del Comune, portrayed in a clearly recognisable manner. Today it may seem commonplace to represent an urban landscape with such “photographic” precision, but it was not so in Giotto’s time. This is one of the earliest works in which an urban setting is rendered with deliberate contextual accuracy, depicted so that the viewer could identify it: it is precisely the piazza as Saint Francis walked through it.
Calendimaggio
Every May, Piazza del Comune hosts a festival whose origins are lost in time: Calendimaggio. Remarkably, for the people of Assisi this is not merely a historical re-enactment. The contest between the two parts of the city – La Nobilissima Parte de Sopra and La Magnifica Parte de Sotto – has never ceased to involve the entire population. The festival has also been nominated for inclusion in the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.