Palazzo Boncompagni: Attraction informations
Palazzo Boncompagni is in Via del Monte, a street that crosses via dell’Indipendenza in Bologna.
The name of the street reminds us of Monte di Pietà (pawnshop), that was once connected to the fortress that stood in this place. Not far away from Via del Monte, we still see nowadays the Palazzo Arcivescovile, the Cathedral of Bologna, dedicated to Saint Peter and the former Palazzo del Seminario, now a luxury hotel.
On its number 8, we find Palazzo Boncompagni, famous for being the home of Ugo Boncompagni, who would later become Pope Gregory XIII.
Pope Gregory XIII, Ugo Boncompagni
The
Boncompagni family did not have noble origins, but reached the highest level of richness and power thanks to commerce. Ugo had the possibility to study at the University of Bologna and achieve high degrees in law, which allowed him to move to
Rome and receive the Pope’s favours, distinguishing himself in the session of the
Council of Trent as one of the best orators.
Ugo Boncompagni rose to the papal seat in 1572 and was Pope until 1583.
During his pontificate, the Catholic Church underwent
a great reform, trying to give an answer to the motions presented by the Protestant Reform. After the Council of Trent, finished in 1563, the entire structure of the Church was under a constant and dramatic change.
His Papacy was characterized also by the introduction of the calendar that will carry his name: the
Gregorian Calendar, still in use nowadays. Some intellectual figures in his court had pointed out that the old calendar did not coincide with the astronomic time.
Thanks to his stay in Rome, we have a famous map representing the city of Bologna, painted as a memorial of his natal city during the Jubilee of 1575.
Nowadays the map still decorates one of the rooms of the Apostolic rooms that house the Pope’s apartments, and the offices of the Secretary of the Vatican State. Wanting to point out his natal home, he represented it with a golden roof, like the rest of the religious buildings in the map.
The construction of the palazzo by Vignola
The
palazzo was strongly desired by his father, Cristoforo Boncompagni. The construction works started in
1537 probably by the design of the
Tuscan architect Baldassarre Tommaso Peruzzi.
The death of Peruzzi in 1536 soon before the starting of the works forced Cristoforo to look for other architects.
In the final part of the imposing project
Jacopo Barozzi, called “il Vignola” for his natal city, in the region of Modena, participated as well.
Il Vignola has gained his place in History as one of the most important Mannerist architects in Italy. He shaped his virtues in the projection and construction of incredible historical buildings embellished by internal majestic staircases that dared all physic rules.
He worked a lot in Bologna, but mainly in Rome. He wrote a compendium where he defined, for the first time in history, “
the architectural orders”: in them, he tried to categorize all the known and used styles to the date.
As proof of is implication in the building of the
palazzo we find a helicoidal stairway, one of the traits of his particular style. Although the main façade of the building is slightly sacrificed by the largeness of the street, it is still possible to see above its main arch the Coat of Arms of Gregory XIII.
