Collegio Puteano

Why go

The palace adds a quieter academic chapter to the square's grand Medici front. Three earlier houses were joined into its present form, and Giovanni Stefano Marucelli decorated the façade with allegorical frescoes in the early seventeenth century. Its name remembers Archbishop Carlo Antonio Dal Pozzo, whose initiative brought students from Piedmont here.

What to look for

• The palace extends along the west side of Piazza dei Cavalieri near San Rocco.
• Allegorical frescoes animate its façade, unlike the sgraffito of Palazzo della Carovana.

The full story

Collegio Puteano occupies a stretch of the west side of Piazza dei Cavalieri, near San Rocco. Its present form was made by joining older houses in the sixteenth century. The building became a college linked to the Knights of St Stephen after Archbishop Carlo Antonio Dal Pozzo arranged accommodation for students from Piedmont in the early seventeenth century. His Latinized name gave the college its title. Giovanni Stefano Marucelli then decorated the façade with allegorical frescoes. That history explains why the palace belongs in the same square as the order's church and headquarters, though its purpose was educational rather than ceremonial. The building later passed into the orbit of the Scuola Normale Superiore and has served as its guesthouse. From outside, compare its painted wall with Vasari's more imposing sgraffito across the square.

Useful to know

• Compare its painted exterior with Palazzo della Carovana across the square.
• Plan on an exterior look; general public interior access is not established.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.