Palazzo Alicorni

The palace is located in Rome, in rione Borgo, in Borgo Santo Spirito 78, its main front almost facing the Palazzo del Commendatore, which is part of the Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia complex. To the west, Via Scossacavalli separates Palazzo Alicorni from the Palazzo dei Penitenzieri, a remarkable Renaissance building: to the east, the building borders ''Via dell'Ospedale'', whose name remembers the demolished Ospedale di San Carlo. ==History==

(1748) The Alicorni, an Albanian family, had escaped from their homeland during the reign of Pope Pius II (r. 1458–64), because of the Ottoman advance in their country. They settled first in Milan, then in Pavia, Forlì, and finally in Rome. The palace originally had its main facade along the Borgo Vecchio road. Trajano Alicorni left two sons, Giovanni Battista and Fabio, who were both appointed knights by the Pope. Some months later the prelate died, leaving the palace to his heirs, who sold it again to others who neglected the building, which fell into disrepair. In 1667, the erection of the Colonnades of St. Peter's square by Gian Lorenzo Bernini made it necessary to pull down the last block of houses ("isola") in front of the new square: this was named "isola del Priorato", since one of the buildings hosted the Priory of the knights of Rhodes. Until 1850, the palace was the seat of the Roman "Guardia civica" (in that year merged with another militia to form the Palatine Guard), thence it was named "Palazzo della Gran Guardia". In 1860, other edifices were erected near the palace, incorporating the rear lane and choking the building. then became for many years a hotel, the "Hotel Pensione Alicorni". As of 2015 the building hosts the UCID ("Unione Cristiana Imprenditori Dirigenti"), an association of catholic entrepreneurs. ==Description==

The original building has been documented through pictures shot in 1927, which show its state before the restoration of Pernier. They were taken by the "Istituto Luce", the propaganda agency founded by Mussolini. The building had two floors divided by belt courses, and a main front, first along Borgo Vecchio, after 1667 along Piazza Rusticucci, with five windows, a yard, and a portal framed by rustication. Its first order was constituted by two arched porticoes with doric columns, and the second and the third made up with two open galleries surmounted by an architrave. In its renovation of 1928 Adolfo Pernier restored all these elements, which have been retained also in the reconstruction along Borgo Santo Spirito. Also the frames of the yard's doors and windows have been put in place again, but the 16th century doric frieze of the rooms, belonging to the school of the Zuccaris, and the wood ceiling of the ducal room have been lost. ==References==