Il Palazzo dei Consoli di Bevagna. Da Palazzo Comunale a sede del Teatro Francesco Torti

The Palazzo dei Consoli of Bevagna, built in the second half of the 13th century, occupies the main square of the Umbrian town centre. The building has maintained its central role inside the life of the community over the centuries. Born as a place for the administration of the city, it became the residence and seat of government of papal governors. The municipal chamber was temporarily used as a theatre in the 17th century. However, from the second quarter of the 19th century plans were drawn up for the construction of a stable theatre. The work of transformation of the first and second levels of the palace into a theatre, dedicated to Francesco Torti (1763-1842) from Bevagna, began in 1874 and ended in 1886 (the theatre was opened in 1889). It was designed to accommodate 250 spectators, involved the construction of a new building, and added to the volume of the 13th century palace, which was necessary to accommodate the stage of the theatre. Architect Antonio Martini da Montefalco carried out some work following the same line as the exterior architectural features of the medieval building. The contribution, with the help of archival documents from the 18th to 19th century phase, allows us to eliminate the additions to the palace, hypothesize what the the medieval configuration was and place the building in the context of the original period of palatial architecture in Umbria.