Municipio Square - Arpino (Italy)

Today Municipio Square represents Arpino’s cultural, social and religious centre. It is located on the ancient Roman Forum, as testified by the 2006 finding of Roman flagstones. Initially, the square was part of the courtyard of the Buoncompagni’s Palace and, during the French domination between 1811 and 1814, it was rectified and expanded in its current architectural and urban structure.
From Giuseppe Cesari’s Street, on the left of the Square there is the bronze statue of Caius Marius. Further ahead we can admire the Collegiate of St Archangel Michael, whose facade made of irregular lines has several Baroque decorations. It was built on the area of a pagan temple, maybe dedicated to Apollo and to the nine Muses, because behind the altar, excavated into the rock, there are nine empty recesses.
The precise date of construction is not known, but, thanks to its frescos that date back to the Ninth and Tenth century, we can understand its antiquity. It was severely damaged during the 1654 earthquake and later, the Church was renovated and modified. On its inside we can recognize the Baroque style: there are three naves with lateral chapels and cross vaults. On the high altar there is a painting realised by the Knight of Arpino illustrating the Archangel Michael victorious on Lucifer, whereas on the volt of the apse there is illustrated the Eternal Father. The Knight of Arpino also realised the Annunciation, Tobit (also known as Tobias or Tobi) and the Angel, the martyrdom of St Pietro and the 14 Stations of the Cross. Located in the right nave there is a Cross that dates back to the Thirteenth century. It is worth paying attention to the Virgin with the Child, realised by the seventeenth-century painter Dionigi Ludovisi, and to the organ realised in the Eighteenth century by Michele Stolz, who is buried under the altar of the Sacred Heart in this church. On the right of Giuseppe Cesari’s Street, we can find a historical building, that is the Gymnasium-National Boarding School “Tulliano”.
Today, it represents a well-known high school, heir of the seventeenth-century Boarding School of St Charles and Philip. During time, it was modified several times, until it had the current aspect. On the main facade there are three oval recesses in which there are the busts of Caius Marius, Marcus Tullius Cicero and Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.
Under each of these statues there are three Latin inscriptions which evoke memories of the great personalities they represent. Instead, the inscriptions that are located on the windows contain the name of the Theodinis family, owner of the building until 1629. On the side of the building that overlooks Giuseppe Cesari’s Street, there is the coat of arms of Arpino and a Lati inscription on its ancient grandeur. Every year the “Tulliano” hosts the Certain, a cultural international event that sees high school students translate and analyse Cicero’s works. Also, in Municipio Square there is the bronze statue dedicated to Cicero and the architectural structure that is located in a corner of Boncompagni Palace. The current aspect of this building dates back to the first years of the Nineteenth century, and on its left facade there is the coat of arms of Arpino, under a Latin inscription dedicated to Charles the Third of Bourbon that remembers the king’s help to Arpino. On the sides of the inscription there are the busts of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and of Giuseppe Garibaldi. On the right facade there is a balcony, under which there are the busts of the Knight of Arpino and of St Francesco Saverio Maria bianchi. A long time ago, the palace represented the Comunal Administration.