In 1291, Pope Nicholas IV ( born at Lisciano, near Ascoli Piceno, and died in Rome on the 4th of April, 1292) had recognized Offida the power to elect its own podestà (see the documents contained in the Collegiata Archives), the consuls and the priors.
The construction of the town-hall Palace, therefore, should date back to long time before. The historian A. Rosini from Offida, in fact, dated the building around the 11th-12th centuries. ... (continues in the details)
IL PALAZZO COMUNALE
The Town-Hall by night - 11th-12th centuries
In 1291, Pope Nicholas IV ( born at Lisciano, near Ascoli Piceno, and died in Rome on the 4th of April, 1292) had recognized Offida the power to elect its own podestà (see the documents contained in the Collegiata Archives), the consuls and the priors.
The construction of the town-hall Palace, therefore, should date back to long time before. The historian A. Rosini from Offida, in fact, dated the building around the 11th-12th centuries.
Likely, the earlier construction was characterized by a building consisting of a ground floor, a first floor and an attic covered by a two-slope roof , supported by wooden trusses, roughly carved; the entire edifice was surmounted by a rough quadrangular tower.
The edifice structure should have appeared rather simple.
The actual architectural structure shows features from different periods.
The building, completely made of fired brick, in fact, consists of a fourteenth-century crenellated tower.
The fourteenth-century features are exemplified by the outer face of the wall opening on the Serpente Aureo Theatre.
The Portico opening on The main square.
On the wall were set the linear measures to be followed in normal trade exchanges, as reported in the municipal Statute of 1524.
The fourteenth-century face of the wall is clearly visible above the small loggia situated over the high central colonnaded portico.
The portico, opening on the main square, is supported by cylindrical columns surmounted by travertine capitals, and dates back to the fifteenth century. By the two sides of the central portico there are two coats of arms, a work by the local sculptor Aldo Sergiacomi, dated 1932. The coat of arms to the left represents the House of the Savoia family, that on the right refers to the Commune of 0ffida.
Another portico, probably dating back to the end of the eighteenth or the nineteenth centuries, flanks the town-hall Palace from the side that opens on Corso Serpente Aureo.
A detail of the Lantern of the Loggia.
In ancient times, inside the lower part of the tower were the jails, which you can still see, as reported in a record from the Municipal Historical Archives, dated 1556.
The tower bell was given by cardinal Felice Peretti, who was to become Pope Sisto V (1520-1590).
The Palace has undergone various processes of restoration.
The building was restored in 1924 under the direction of engineer Rosini and the collaboration, for the ornamental designs, of professor G. Leoni, manager of the local School of Design Applied to the Arts.
That time, the building had been restored to its original condition: a fired brick construction. Besides, the original fourteenth-century outside wall was decorated with a row of merlons in the shape of a dovetail.
The Open Gallery, upper floor of the Town-hall.
The Inside
Dalla porta centrale, contornata da uno stipite di pietra tagliata a punta di diamante, attraverso una scala, ci si porta al piano superiore del Palazzo. Le sale più rappresentative sono quattro: la Sala Consiliare, la “sala rossa”, con mobili stile Luigi XV; la “sala azzurra”, con mobili stile impero; la “sala verde”, con mobili stile Luigi XVI.
On the left, the " Red Chamber", with Louis XV furniture; on the right the "Green Chamber", with Louis XVI furniture.
