The Palazzo Ducale of Reggio nell'Emilia, located along Corso Garibaldi, in front of the Basilica della Ghiara, now the seat of the offices of the Province and of the Prefecture.
It was built at the end of the eighteenth century as the seat of the Governor of Reggio, in a place where there was previously a monastery.
In 1814 it was donated by the city to the Duke Francesco IV of Habsburg-Este and since 1839 underwent numerous interventions by the neoclassical architect Pietro Marchelli who placed it in its current form.
The current building called Palazzo Ducale arises in today's forms only at the end of the 18th century.
On May 19, 1783, with the decree of the Duke Francesco III, the Monastery of St. Peter Martyr was suppressed.
On 28 July 1783 the Duke decided to have a Government Building built at the expense of the Municipality, residence for the Governor, the Commander of Arms and the Major of Piazza. After various vicissitudes the choice fell on the suppressed Monastery and exactly on the part of the current central courtyard, and the project was entrusted to Pietro Armani.
At the end of 1786 the building could be considered finished and the following year the Armed Commander entered. With the Napoleonic conquest, starting from the Kingdom of Italy (May 4, 1802) the Palazzo dell'Arman was used as the residence of the Prefects. The Restoration led to a reversal of the use of the building: in fact the delegates of the Municipality offered the Palazzo to the Duke so that it would make its residence during the Reggiani stays. The Duke provides for the incorporation of some private houses and assigns the architect Domenico Marchelli (1817) for a renovation project of the palace with the formation of the internal garden and the design of a new façade up to the Via di S. Pietro Martire.
Between 1838 and 1845 on a project by Pietro Marchelli, the building underwent a series of interventions that especially with the opening of the Via Santa Liberata, demolishing part of the ancient medieval fabric, leads to the current building set on the three courts.
Other important works date back to 1911 when the oratory of S.Liberata was suppressed. It was this oratory founded in 1680 on the border with the Monastery and overlooked Corso Garibaldi. The work of transformation in the Palazzo Ducale sees it incorporated and destined to a private chapel of the Duke. The 1911 works lead to the current arrangement of the external and internal facades.
CONTACTS
Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi Reggio Emilia (Reggio Emilia)