Palazzo Colavecchio

Palazzo Colavecchio makes no grand, symmetrical gesture to the street. Its irregular form is a frank record of accretion and adaptation, entered through a lateral, low-arched portal that also marks the boundary of the Processional Way. The masonry is a raw, textural mix of large river pebbles and rubble, with bricks used pragmatically to level the horizontal courses; in places, a crumbly coat of lime and river-sand plaster still clings to the wall. Timber floors support a pitched roof of clay tiles and counter-tiles. On the right flank, a defensive tower has been absorbed into the palazzo’s fabric. The building now contains nine residential units and four storerooms, but the rough stone and the tower’s silent presence speak to a time when a town house was as much about protection as habitation.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.