Stone portal of Palazzo Eroli in Narni, featuring a large arched door and museum information panels.
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Museum of the City and the Territory at Palazzo Eroli, Narni

The story of a family brought to life as a museum

In the heart of Narni’s historic centre, just steps from Piazza dei Priori and beside the Church of San Francesco, stands a palace that tells the story of the city across five centuries.

This is Palazzo Eroli, today home to the Museum of the City and Territory and the Municipal Library. For centuries, it was the residence of Narni’s most distinguished family, the Eroli, a powerful dynasty that gave the Church Cardinal Berardo Eroli, as well as generations of bishops, knights and scholars.

A visit to Palazzo Eroli is therefore much more than a journey through a museum: it is an opportunity to discover Narni through the story of the family, the building and the works of art that shaped the city’s cultural identity.

A palace built from centuries of history

Palazzo Eroli is the result of centuries of architectural transformation. The elegant eighteenth-century building, completed in 1748 as the date engraved above the entrance recalls, incorporates a number of earlier structures.

In the fifteenth century, these buildings belonged to the three branches of the Eroli family, together with houses owned by other prominent families of Narni, including the Alberti, Cardoli and Montoro. The approximately 54-metre-long façade along Via Saffi conceals a fascinating sequence of buildings, courtyards and rooms gradually brought together over the centuries.

The site itself has an even older story to tell. The Church of San Martino, one of the oldest churches in Narni, once stood here and is documented as early as 1036. Traces of this religious past can still be seen in the small Renaissance building incorporated into the palace, recognisable by its elegant Guelph-cross windows and sgraffito decoration. On the ground floor, a vaulted room may preserve echoes of the site’s former role as an oratory.

Cardinal Berardo Eroli: a patron of the arts

The Eroli family’s name is especially tied to the arts and culture thanks to Cardinal Berardo Eroli (1409–1479).

An eminent jurist, Bishop of Spoleto from 1448 and cardinal from 1460, Berardo was one of the leading figures of the fifteenth-century papal court. His influence extended far beyond Narni and his diocese. He served as a papal legate in Umbria on several occasions, played a role in important political affairs and became an influential patron of some of the greatest artists of his time.

Among his most important commissions was the decoration of the apse of Spoleto Cathedral by Filippo Lippi, who painted the celebrated cycle of the Coronation of the Virgin. Among the prophets and patriarchs in the main scene is a cardinal whose features are traditionally identified as those of Berardo himself.

The cardinal also invited Benozzo Gozzoli to Montefalco and commissioned works from artists such as Giovanni Dalmata and Pierantonio Mezzastris.

His influence can be seen particularly clearly in Narni. He promoted the renovation of the Cathedral of San Giovenale, including its Renaissance portico and the vaults of the nave, and supported the decoration of the Chapel of San Bernardino in the Church of San Francesco, where Mezzastris painted scenes from the saint’s life.

Two masterpieces now housed in the museum are also linked to his patronage: the Annunciation by Benozzo Gozzoli and the Coronation of the Virgin by Domenico Ghirlandaio.

From aristocratic residence to museum

The Eroli family continued to own the palace for centuries after Cardinal Berardo’s death. Successive generations expanded and transformed the building, giving it new functions and adapting its spaces to changing needs.

In the eighteenth century, under Marquis Pietro Eroli and his son Silvio, the palace acquired much of the appearance we see today, including its new façade, the entrance hall with cross vaults and the grand staircase.

In 1984, Palazzo Eroli was acquired by the Province of Terni. A major restoration project brought to light traces of the earlier buildings and paved the way for its new role as a cultural centre.

Today, the palace houses the Museum of the City and the Territory and the Municipal Library. The Picture Gallery on the second floor brings together paintings and sculptures that reveal the extraordinary artistic heritage of Narni and the surrounding area.

View from the rooftops of Narni towards wooded hills and San Cassiano Abbey, with chimneys and stone walls in the foreground.

Panoramic view of Narni

Stone bas-relief of a winged griffin held by a human figure in a tunic, preserved in Palazzo Eroli.

Stone bas-relief with winged griffin

Octagonal stone well in an open courtyard surrounded by low walls and stone blocks, with hills in the background.

Octagonal stone well

Stone sculpture of a crouching lion, displayed on a red pedestal in front of the inscription Narnia at Palazzo Eroli.

Stone sculpture of a lion

Bandaged mummy displayed in a glass case on a decorated wooden table at Palazzo Eroli.

Mummy

A journey through the history of Narni

Spread across three floors, the museum takes visitors on a journey through the history of Narni and its territory, from prehistoric times and the Roman period through to the Middle Ages.

The first section presents archaeological finds and fossil remains documenting the area’s earliest history, alongside material connected with the Roman period. Particular attention is devoted to Erasmo da Narni, known as Gattamelata, the famous Renaissance condottiero.

Large-screen video projections and evocative music enrich the visit, creating an immersive experience that brings the past closer to visitors of all ages.

The museum’s Picture Gallery presents works by local and regional artists dating from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. Among its highlights are Benozzo Gozzoli’s Annunciation and Domenico Ghirlandaio’s Coronation of the Virgin, both commissioned by Cardinal Berardo Eroli.

Another fascinating object is the bronze basin from the fountain in Piazza dei Priori, dating from 1303.

One of the museum’s most intriguing rooms contains a remarkable donation made to the Municipality of Narni in the 1930s by collector Edoardo Martinori.

The collection includes a mummy and an elaborately decorated wooden sarcophagus dating from the fourth century BC. A palaeopathological examination carried out in 1993 revealed that the remains belonged to a young woman, approximately twenty years old, who was pregnant at the time of her death and was of Nubian origin.

The Archaeological Collection and Antiquarian Studies

The history of antiquarian studies in Narni is closely linked to figures such as Fulvio Cardoli, Ferdinando Brusoni and, above all, Giovanni Eroli, a nineteenth-century marquis and scholar whose work on local history remains a valuable source to this day. He was the first to attempt to establish a collection of antiquities capable of documenting the history of the city.

Among the most significant pieces preserved in the museum are Roman inscriptions, brick stamps from the figlinae Narnienses, and artefacts that document life in the city during the Imperial and Late Antique periods. Medieval remains are also represented, including the wall structures uncovered during excavations beneath the town hall and in the Church of San Domenico. The epigraphic collection, in particular, offers a fascinating insight into Roman Narnia and its institutions.

A Place Worth Visiting

Today, Palazzo Eroli provides a unique gateway to the history of Narni and its surrounding territory. A visit to the museum takes visitors on a journey through the story of a family that profoundly shaped the city, while offering the opportunity to admire works of great artistic value and discover, through the many layers of the building itself, the complexity of an urban history whose roots stretch back to antiquity.

The Municipal Library, located on the ground floor, and the Picture Gallery, on the second floor, complete the cultural offering of a place that continues to be, as it was in the past, a meeting point between the city and its heritage. The museum also hosts themed guided tours and educational activities for children, with a dedicated exhibition itinerary for younger visitors accompanied by León, the museum’s mascot.

The palace’s 2,700 square metres also accommodate a bookshop with an educational and recreational section, as well as spaces for cultural events.

Museum of the City and Territory at Palazzo Eroli
Via Saffi, 1 – Narni (TR)

Located in the historic centre, in the Fraporta district, beside the Church of San Francesco and behind the fourteenth-century Palazzo del Podestà. The museum can be reached from the Suffragio car park, which is connected to the town centre by lifts.

Openings
SUMMER HOURS (April / October) - Open from Tuesday to Sunday - (last admission 45 minutes before closing)
10:00 - 19:00
WINTER HOURS (November / March) - Open from Tuesday to Sunday - (last admission 45 minutes before closing)
10:00 - 18:00
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