page_title: Palazzo Alicorni
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Palazzo Alicorni / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The New Plan of Rome by Giambattista Nolli part 1/12
context_page_description: Palazzo Alicorni is a reconstructed Renaissance building in Rome, important for historical and architectural reasons. The palace, originally lying only a few meters away from Bernini's Colonnades in St. Peter's square, was demolished in 1930 in the wake of the process of the border definition of the newly established Vatican City state, and rebuilt some hundred meters to the east. According to the stylistic analysis, his designer had been identified as Giovanni Mangone, a Lombard architect active in Rome during the 16th century.
context_section_description: The Alicorni, an Albanian family, had escaped from their homeland during the reign of Pope Pius II (r. 1458–64), because of the Ottoman advance in their country. They settled first in Milan, then in Pavia, Forlì, and finally in Rome. They rose to high rank, partly because of several marriages with Italian noble families; among them were the Trivulzio and Pusterla from Milan, and the Capranica from Rome.Messer Traiano (also spelled Trajano) Alicorni, conservatore (one of the three counselors) of the city and primo cameriere of the pope, had his palace erected in Borgo at the beginning of the 16th century. The palace originally had its main facade along the Borgo Vecchio road. Two inns, named respectively Locanda del Leopardo and Locanda dell'Inferno (The Leopard and The Hell), had to be demolished to make room for the new building.
  Trajano Alicorni left two sons, Giovanni Battista and Fabio, who were both appointed knights by the Pope. In 1585, Giovanni Battista sold the palace to the French Cardinal Matteo Contarelli, Datarius of Pope Gregory XIII (r. 1572–85). Some months later the prelate died, leaving the palace to his heirs, who sold it again to others who neglected the building, which fell into disrepair. In 1667, the erection of the Colonnades of St. Peter's square by Gian Lorenzo Bernini made it necessary to pull down the last block of houses ("isola") in front of the new square: this was named "isola del Priorato", since one of the buildings hosted the Priory of the knights of Rhodes. After the erection of the new square, Palazzo Alicorni faced at a very short distance the southern Colonnade in an incongruous position, being isolated on three sides, with Piazza Rusticucci (the new vestibule of St. Peter's square, created through the demolition) to the north, via del Sant'Uffizio to the west, and the short, crooked lane named "Vicolo di Messer Traiano" (from Traiano Alicorni) to the east.
  Until 1850, the palace was the seat of the Roman "Guardia civica" (in that year merged with another militia to form the Palatine Guard), thence it was named "Palazzo della Gran Guardia". In 1860, other edifices were erected near the palace, incorporating the rear lane and choking the building. Rome's land-use plan of 1882 foresaw the demolition of Palazzo Alicorni. On the contrary, in 1888 the comune of Rome bought it, destining it to primary school.
  In 1928 the Governatorato of Rome asked architect Adolfo Pernier to restore the building, which for the holy year of 1925 had been painted in yellow. The architect after an accurate survey brought the palace back to its original early 16th century pristine condition, removing all the later additions, including the balcony along Via del Sant'Uffizio. Only three years later, after the signing of the Lateran treaties, the edifice had to be pulled down in the wake of the definition of the border between Italy and the newly established state of Vatican City.
  Palazzo Alicorni was rebuilt in 1938 by architects Attilio Spaccarelli and Marcello Piacentini (the designers of Via della Conciliazione) along Borgo Santo Spirito, almost in front of the palace of the Commendatore, part of the complex of the hospital of Santo Spirito in Sassia.
  After the end of World War II, the palace hosted the headquarters of the "Confcooperative" (the union of Italian catholic cooperatives), then became for many years an hotel, the "Hotel Pensione Alicorni". As of 2015 the building hosts the UCID ("Unione Cristiana Imprenditori Dirigenti"), an association of catholic entrepreneurs.
caption: Original position of palazzo Alicorni (n. 1258), in front of the southern Colonnade of St. Peter, from Nuova Topografia di Roma by Giambattista Nolli (1748)
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