The ducal palace The Strozzi Palace

The Ducal Palace of Forano was built on the ancient ruins of the fortress erected in the thirteenth century on a pre-existing Roman villa, demolished in the early ‘500 by the Savelli’s family, owners of Forano castle until 1599.

Here the “Palace”takes its origin, initially made up of two floors. A century later, through the work of the Strozzi family, the structure was modified and with the construction of a third floor above, and other restructuring actions which determined the architectural features that even today the building retains. Between the year 1880 and the year 1890, as a result of a gambling debt, the property was sold to some members of the French family Sauve. The Palace new ownership used the Palace as a summer residence only, undermining this way its ancient importance and splendor, so prominent previously. Currently, the Palace is a property of a local family, the Liturri, strongly engaged in an ambitious restoration project of the architectural symbol of Forano. As mentioned before, the rectangular structure stands out on three identical floors.

The first floor hosts canteens, typified by cross vault and groin vault, leaning against squared pillar, with bricks in view. Inside there, daily-use tools and furnishing, passed by the Time flow, can be found and admired. A central staircase allows access to the upper floors, where rooms are arranged “in flight”, accordingly to architectural style typical of the eighteenth century.

On the ground floor, you can enjoy marble fragments found in the floor of the basement, both classical and medieval. Going up to the main floors, splendid frescoes can be found, hidden by the whitewashing for several years and inspired by historical events of the time.

Among all paintings, the “Camera degli Sposi” – 1567, (The Bride Chamber), representing the wed of Diana Savelli and Enrico Orsini, the Sir of Stimigliano, is surely the most prominent one.