AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Built in 1563 along Fermignano's main Renaissance thoroughfare, Palazzo Calistri is one of the oldest and most distinguished private palaces in this small Marche hill town. Its finely carved sandstone portal and window frames are among the finest surviving examples of local Renaissance craftsmanship.↗↗
The palace takes its name from the Calistri family, who shaped Fermignano's civic and religious life for centuries. When the town finally won independence from Urbino in 1818, the new municipal government was installed right here, and the palazzo served as the town hall for over sixty years.↗↗
A Renaissance Doorway on Bramante's Street
Corso Donato Bramante — named for the great architect born in Fermignano in 1444 — was once the via Maggiore, the spine of the fortified medieval castle that grew up around the ancient Roman bridge over the Metauro river. Walking toward Piazza Garibaldi, the eye catches a handsome sandstone portal set into the three-storey façade of Palazzo Calistri. The arched doorway is framed with vegetal leaf motifs, and on the architrave an inscription reads "Soli Deo Honor et Gloria" (Honour and Glory to God Alone), flanked by a coat of arms bearing a rusticated tower, two eight-pointed stars, and a wavy band. Similar sandstone window surrounds appear across the façade and along the narrow side lane, testifying to a confident Renaissance taste that was relatively bold for a modest hill community.
