The Bishop's Palace

The constant action of the episcopal power finds an eloquent symbol in this palace

The palace currently houses part of the diocesan museum as well as the bishop's private residence and was probably built in the Late Middle Ages, at the same time as the construction of the Cathedral. Its existence is only documented, however, starting from the episcopate of Gregorio Diositani, who promoted the transformation of a part of the building to use it as a prison in the mid-fifteenth century, which was then expanded in the sixteenth century. 

Visited by Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, in 1489, the residence was enlarged and rearranged by bishop Troilo Carafa, who created the secret garden, the gate of which is still preserved with an inscription on the stone display, located immediately after the entrance vestibule to the Citadel. Before the construction of the post-Tridentine Seminary, the training of clerics also took place in the palace. 

Among the sixteenth-century transformations ordered by the bishops, there remain traces of works carried out on the initiative of Andrea Candida and Vincenzo Bonardi. However the significant architectural works were carried out during the episcopate of Ottaviano Pasqua, who promoted the construction of a chapel and four new rooms in the palace, and the creation of an open porticoed connection between the building and the Cathedral. 

After the damage caused by the earthquake of 1783, the reconstruction of part of the palace was decided at the turn of the century. A great deal of damage was done to its archives during the short span of the Napoleonic period. 

In the nineteenth century, the new Seminary was added to the building, thus giving rise to the new Episcopal Citadel.