Palazzo Rota - later Rota Suardi - is located in Upper Town and overlooks the charming Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe, one of the oldest in the city, mentioned in documents as early as 1263.
Once belonging to the consortium of shoemakers, whose headquarters it was until 1331 as Domus Calegariorum, it also housed for a time that of butchers, known as Paratico dei Beccai. In the mid-14th century, in 1353, it was purchased by Guidino Suardi, a descendant of the local Count Palatine Teutaldo. It remained the property of the family long enough to take on specific characters related to their role, legal-administrative: the small balcony on the facade was in fact added at the behest of Guido, who, as palatine, had the right to public proclamations.
The building later became the property of the Rota family, undergoing other architectural changes. The major ones, however, date back to 1887, when, purchased by the City of Bergamo, it was converted into a station for the funicular railway connecting Lower town and Upper town. To make this modern use possible, the lower courtyard was filled in with earth, parts of the medieval walls were torn down, and loggias were added on the façade facing the Lower Town.
Architecturally, Palazzo Rota Suardi is a three-story rectangular building composed of two separate bodies, separated and joined by the courtyard that lies between the tracks of the two funicular railroads.
The northern body features squared stones, a balcony with stone corbels, and a band of hanging arches. Above the central entrance is painted a fresco bearing the Suardi coat of arms, created in the 14th century at the behest of the family; along with the black imperial eagle on a yellow field and a rampant lion on a red field, here a cartouche proclaims "vim vi repellere licet" (it is legitimate to repress force with force). The south-facing body is made airy and light by the loggias, whose arches rest on twin cast-iron columns.
Inside, above the courtyard, there is a large skylight roof vault that gives natural light to the room.
Palazzo Rota - later Rota Suardi - is located in Upper Town and overlooks the charming Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe, one of the oldest in the city, mentioned in documents as early as 1263.
Once belonging to the consortium of shoemakers, whose headquarters it was until 1331 as Domus Calegariorum, it also housed for a time that of butchers, known as Paratico dei Beccai. In the mid-14th century, in 1353, it was purchased by Guidino Suardi, a descendant of the local Count Palatine Teutaldo. It remained the property of the family long enough to take on specific characters related to their role, legal-administrative: the small balcony on the facade was in fact added at the behest of Guido, who, as palatine, had the right to public proclamations.
The building later became the property of the Rota family, undergoing other architectural changes. The major ones, however, date back to 1887, when, purchased by the City of Bergamo, it was converted into a station for the funicular railway connecting Lower town and Upper town. To make this modern use possible, the lower courtyard was filled in with earth, parts of the medieval walls were torn down, and loggias were added on the façade facing the Lower Town.
Architecturally, Palazzo Rota Suardi is a three-story rectangular building composed of two separate bodies, separated and joined by the courtyard that lies between the tracks of the two funicular railroads.
The northern body features squared stones, a balcony with stone corbels, and a band of hanging arches. Above the central entrance is painted a fresco bearing the Suardi coat of arms, created in the 14th century at the behest of the family; along with the black imperial eagle on a yellow field and a rampant lion on a red field, here a cartouche proclaims "vim vi repellere licet" (it is legitimate to repress force with force). The south-facing body is made airy and light by the loggias, whose arches rest on twin cast-iron columns.
Inside, above the courtyard, there is a large skylight roof vault that gives natural light to the room.
