Circuito museale aperto: Palazzo della Corgna e Fortezza Medievale

Open Museum Circuit – Della Corgna Palace and Medieval Fortress The Palazzo della Corgna and the Fortezza Medievale are part of the Circuito Museale Aperto, of Castiglion del Lago. Emblem of the powerful marquisate of the Della Corgna Family, the Palace was built starting around the mid 16 century by Ascanio, the greatest representative of the family and responsible for the urban arrangement of the town center, of which the Palace is the pivotal nucleus. The palace, as it stands now, is the result of regularizations of the previous properties of the Baglioni family, expanded and completed by Ascanio’s successors. The fresco cycle adorning its walls is among the highest examples of noble decorations in Umbria. Its focus is on exalting Ascanio’s heroic deeds, also recurring to mythological themes and fortunes associated with the Lake Trasimeno territory. Its execution was commissioned to Ascanio’s nephew, Niccolò Circignani, called Pomarancio, from Diomede Della Penna Della Corgna in 1574. Among his co-workers Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi, whose hand is recognizable in some scenes in the Aeneid Room, emerges from the collaborators. The Medieval Fortress—once a Perugian garrison to control over the territories around Lake Trasimeno—is connected to Della Corgna Palace through a passageway commissioned by Della Cornia to facilitate an escape route in case of attacks.