Palazzo Cesi of Acquasparta, rises on what in the past was a fortified fortress almost destroyed during the wars that involved the village, together with the cities of Todi, Spoleto and Terni, of which, geographically, Acquasparta was the nerve center.

The feud of Acquasparta then passed into the hands of the Farnese family which, despite the excellent geographical position of the estate, was more interested in grabbing territories bordering on Lazio. For this reason, in 1540, Pierluigi Farnese ceded the fief to Giangiacomo Cesi in exchange for that of Alviano, dowry of his wife Isabella d’Alviano.

From this moment on, Acquasparta and its neighboring areas become “domus cesiana” with the idea of ​​building a sumptuous Renaissance palace at the center, demonstrating the power and importance of the family. This project was carried out by Giangiacomo and his brother, Cardinal Federico, who moved to the area as early as 1549. The latter, a powerful man in the ecclesiastical environment and in that of the Roman nobility, contacted one of his trusted architects, Guido Guidetti, from Florence, commissioned a project related to the Palazzo di Acquasparta. Guidetti, unfortunately, died in 1564 and the following year the same fate will also be given to Cardinal Federico, but just that year in Acquasparta work will begin on the construction of one of the most important Renaissance palaces in Umbria.

The architect who succeeded Guidetti was Giandomenico Bianchi, architect of the Milanese factory, who completed what was the first project. Not only that, Bianchi, established in Acquasparta and now in the service of the Cesi, also worked on other projects, such as those related to the Palazzo di Cantalupo and the bishop’s palace in Todi.

The Palazzo Cesi in Acquasparta has a rather severe facade, divided into two orders by simple string courses. The central portal is animated by an arch with very prominent ashlars that support the balcony and the window, with a broken tympanum adorned with animal protomes.
Laterally, those that were two sighting towers, became two outposts, incorporated inside the Palace which give a minimum of movement to the very severe architecture of the facade. The latter concludes with a projecting cornice, composed of shelves decorated with plant motifs that alternate with panels with the mountains of the Cesi and the Orsini roses.

The interior, towards the Palazzo garden, is formed by a loggia with two orders, very similar to that present in the Palace of Cantalupo.
The east wing, which uses one of the towers that belonged to the old fortress, contains the stairwell that accompanies the upper floor, also known as the noble floor.

The construction of Palazzo Cesi in Acquasparta was completed around 1579 and somehow inaugurated by the celebrations for the marriage between Federico I – son of Angelo Cesi and Beatrice Caetani -, with Olimpia Orsini, parents of the future Prince of the Lincei. This explains why at Palazzo there are numerous coats of arms relating to the Orsini family.
The following year, Isabella D’Alviano, who survived her husband Giangiacomo and her son, commissioned a further series of works: the reconstruction of the city walls and some streets of the village, while the following year, Bianchi took care of the arrangement of the square in front of the Palace.

The square was completed only in the seventeenth century, with the construction of the brick portico in the eastern part of the same, which rests directly on the castle walls. In the porch, as well as in the entrance hall of the Palace, some pieces from Carsulae were preserved, an archaeological site not far from Acquasparta and then part of the Cesiano feud.

A rare image of Carsulae is preserved in Rome, at the Palazzo della Maschera d’Oro, residence of the Cesi and, apparently, a place much loved by Cardinal Federico. This reproduction of the end of the sixteenth century is undoubtedly the oldest image of the ruins of the Roman city.

The decorations that make the Palazzo Cesi in Acquasparta one of the most important examples of Roman taste in Umbria, are divided by construction, in two distinct periods.

The first, which was started with the beginning of the works and completed in the early 1580s, sees the realization of the whole two cycles of frescoes that equally concern the ground floor and the noble floor.

In the first case, the frescoes are inspired by the “Metamorphoses” of Ovid and probably by the scholars, confronted with the Cesi, chose some stories rather than others. It is no coincidence that in the first room to the left of the entrance to the Palace, the “Labors of Hercules” were chosen because the Cesi considered it the progenitor of the lineage. On the upper floor, also known as the piano nobile, we are inspired instead by Plutarch and his “Lives of the Caesars”, since the upper floor, a representation floor, was to celebrate the greatness and importance.

On 17 August 1603, Federico II Cesi, founded the Accademia dei Lincei, at his home in Rome in Via della Maschera d’Oro. The Academy was composed by himself, named Prince of the Lincei, Anastasio de Filiis, Francesco Stelluti and Joannes Van Heeck. The sign of the Accadmia was, in fact, a lynx, a shrewd animal with an acute sight and the motto “sagacius ista” wants to exhort academics to be even more sagacious than the animal in question. The first document drawn up by the academics was the “Lynceographum”, vademecum on the Academy and the academics, still today of incredible importance.

Right from the start, the initiative of the young Federico was hindered by his father, Federico I, who prevented the Lynxes from reuniting and pursuing the goals they had set for themselves as scientists and scholars. The continuous fights and harassment forced the Prince of the Lincei, in 1609, to literally escape from Rome to take refuge in the Palace in Umbria, finally to reunite his friends and colleagues and begin his studies seriously. From this moment on, the Academy and the related works continued expeditiously and Federico Cesi found a welcoming and hospitable place in Acquasparta where he could elaborate and study his theories.

Two years later in 1611, the Academy welcomed one of its most important scholars: Galileo Galilei. The Pisan scientist and the botanist Linceo, had had the opportunity to exchange some epistle in relation to the Galilean theories about astronomy, after the nova of 1609 and from that moment onwards the Prince of Lincei supported and published several of the works containing the theories more controversial than Galilei.

Galilei, for his part, shared with Federico Cesi, his inventions, like the telescope – which Federico used to look at the sky and of which he wrote to his friend Stelluti – and the microscope, called “occhialino”. The latter was sent as a trial to the Principe dei Lincei, who, together with Stelluti, used it for one of the most important publications of the Academy: “Apiarium-Melissographia”. The Apiarium contains the first scientific drawing on bees ever produced, thanks to the use of Galilei’s invention that allowed the Lynxes to study in depth a study of incredible interest.

Galileo and Federico, over the years, maintained a solid collaboration and friendship, as evidenced by the numerous letters contained in Gabrielli’s “Carteggio Linceo”. Proof of this are the letters the Prince wrote to Galilei to inform him of his marriage to Artemisia Colonna, the ones he sent for the death of the latter and, subsequently, of his mother, the beloved Olimpia, who died in 1616. He was also informed of the marriage with Isabella Salviati, a Tuscan herself, related to the Medici and also known by the Pisan scientist. The marriage with Isabella allowed Federico to move permanently to Acquasparta and, consequently, to host Galileo Galilei, traveling to Rome in April 1624 to present himself to the new Pope Maffeo Barberini, known as Urbano VII, his old friend, with the hope to mitigate the charges of heresy against him.

And it is precisely in the halls of the Palazzo Cesi in Acquasparta that Galileo, Federico and the other academics discussed the science at length, evaluating and comparing their theories, putting the foundations of what we now know as modern science, day after day.
In front of the large fireplace of the main hall of the noble floor of the Palace, the two Lincei revolutionized the one known as the Aristotelian system and laid the foundations for the defense in favor of Galileo’s studies from the accusations of the Church.
A defense that unfortunately was abruptly interrupted by the premature death of the Prince of the Lincei, in 1630 at just 45 years old.

Palazzo Cesi in Acquasparta is undoubtedly one of the most important examples of Renaissance architecture in Umbria.

Built on the ruins of an ancient fortified fortress, the Cesi commissioned a summer residence which, in 1618, instead became the residence of Federico Cesi II, the Prince of the Lincei.

The architects in charge of the construction of the Palace were two: Guido Guidetti, who was succeeded by Gian Domenico Bianchi due to the premature death of the first.

The Palazzo Cesi in Acquasparta has a rather severe facade, divided into two orders by simple string courses. The central portal is animated by an arch with very prominent ashlars that support the balcony and the window, with a broken tympanum adorned with animal protomes.

Laterally, those that were two sighting towers, became two outposts, incorporated inside the Palace which give a minimum of movement to the very severe architecture of the facade. The latter concludes with a projecting cornice, composed of shelves decorated with plant motifs that alternate with panels with the mountains of the Cesi and the Orsini roses.

The interior, towards the Palazzo garden, is formed by a loggia with two orders, very similar to that present in the Palace of Cantalupo.

The east wing, which uses one of the towers that belonged to the old fortress, contains the stairwell that accompanies the upper floor, also known as the noble floor.

The interior of the building is enriched by numerous frescoes, attributed to Lombardelli, a painter very fashionable at that time, especially in Roman environments.

It is possible to identify two cycles of frescoes: that of the ground floor, inspired by the “Metamorphoses” of Ovid, while the one on the upper floor, known as the noble floor, inspired by the “Lives” of Plutarch.

The noble floor is also famous for its incredible coffered ceiling that adorns each room, especially the main hall known today as the “Throne Room”, in the center of which stands a grandiose reproduction of the Cesi family crest, supported by two Victories.

In the same room is the famous fireplace, in front of which Federico Cesi and Galileo Galilei spent their evenings together in April 1624.