COLOSI PALACE

HISTORICAL NOTES AND DESCRIPTION

Palazzo Colosi, is known in Vitorchiano according to recent oral tradition, also as the palace of Bovani, wife of the noble Colosi who had it built at the beginning of the seventeenth century, (heir of the Conti Bovani family) one of the last owners, the lawyer N Colosis. The structure was born from an implementation of a previous rural building, pre-existing of the eleventh century. The building was conceived and started to build in the years following the seventeenth century. by the descendants of the progenitor of the family, Captain of Ventura of German origins who had escorted one of the Bavarian cardinals to the Conclave of Viterbo (1268-1271), tired of the frenzy of the main city of Tuscia.

On the corner of Viale Manzoni and Via Francesco Aquilanti, stands Palazzo Colosi, a large building on two levels, consisting of two blocks of different heights perpendicular to each other. The highest has a façade characterized by two different orders of windows, with large pilasters at the ends. The palace is accessed from Viale Manzoni, through the main gate, which is surmounted by oxen (a clear reference to the origins of the family name) carved in peperino, the typical local stone.
On the left side of the facade, where there was a collapse of the masonry, the oral legend tells that it occurred in conjunction with the arrival in the town of the body of Sant ‘Amanzio, two other walled windows are visible, one for each level, with the respective signs of the division of the pre-existing environments. Upon entering, you enter a large garden, initially structured according to the guidelines of an “Italian garden” through which you can access the terrace overlooking the square at the entrance to the town.
After the entrance gate we find a second gate, crossing a large walled courtyard, which has pilasters surmounted by peperino vases at the top, on the short side and half of the long side of the masonry. Along the short side and part of the long side of the wall that delimits the entrance courtyard of the palace, the pillars stand out, four on each side, surmounted by empire-style vases molded in stone, in the shape of a chalice, tall and flared. The base of the same is fluted and ends at the top with a connecting element which is also fluted, on which the actual vase rests, which has rounded decorations at the base and ends with a convex border. Further down is a window with a white lattice and a stone bench. After the second gate, an avenue, surrounded by trees and hedges, leads to the entrance door of the building located under a round arch with a grooved and decorated architrave. Along the left side of the building, the fall of a large part of the building is evident and on the first level you are faced with a fifth walled window. A pilaster with capital, on the lower level, delimits the facade of the building. Below is a small window with a grate flanked by another window, placed on a part of the wall that survived the fall, which underlines the greatness of the building before the collapse. Here you can see two other walled windows, one for each level, with the respective signs of the division of the pre-existing rooms. The main facade has two different orders of windows, four for each level; the one on the first floor is perceived to be characterized by the presence of a pediment on each window due to the signs they have left on the facade. The floors of the building are separated by string courses and, at the corners, large pilasters are visible which, on the lower level, where there is the access door, are surmounted by fluted linear capitals and divide the wall into three equal parts. The extension of the building develops along Viale Manzoni, and from here the two blocks of which the building is made up are clearly distinguishable. The levels on which the building is built are less recognizable than the façade, but can still be distinguished in: an upper order consisting of three windows, a lower one consisting of as many non-aligned windows of different features, and finally two other lower orders characterized by two small overlapping windows. Beyond the wall that runs along Viale Manzoni, you can see the bricks on the side of the building that collapsed.

The only window overlooks this side, which differs from the others and is located at a different height. Inscribed in a round arch in peperino, the window has doors with a white wooden frame made up of six glass panes, three on each side and culminates at the top with a grated lunette.