Interior rooms of the Baronial Palace of San Felice Circeo, the historic residence of the noble families who governed the fief in turn – the Caetani, Ruspoli, Orsini, the Reverend Apostolic Chamber and finally the Poniatowski – now home to the municipal offices. Inside, under the arch connecting Piazzale San Francesco to Piazza Lanzuisi, you can still see the remains of a chapel built by the Caetani in the 17th century within the baronial complex.
The original core of today’s town hall very probably dates to the first half of the 16th century, when San Felice was ruled by the Caetani family. After a long period of splendour, from the Middle Ages onwards the village went through dark centuries and changing fortunes. Relentless destruction, such as that caused by barbarian peoples and by the troops of Alfonso of Aragon, alternated with effective though temporary rebuilding, such as that undertaken by the Templar monks, who in the 13th century created a first fortified structure with a tower and convent in the ancient town of Circeii. But it was only under Pope Julius II, in 1506, that an official bull allowed Guglielmo Caetani to rebuild and repopulate the so-called “castrum Sancti Felicis” permanently. He built a large palace on the site of the old fortress, near the imposing Templar tower. He placed the main entrance of the fortress on the west side of the town, through an arched gate protected by a moat and connected by a drawbridge. Further substantial improvements and extensions were made only in the following century, such as the construction of a church, sadly now gone (its lintel can still be seen on the south-west side of the building), and of a bastion protecting the palace. The current form of the palace is due to the fundamental changes ordered by Prince Stanisław Poniatowski. He brought in many artists for the work, among them the Neoclassical architect Giuseppe Valadier, who came to the Circeo several times. Since then the building has housed all those who governed the town in turn: members of the Aguet family, various podestà and finally, from 1957, the offices of the Municipality of San Felice Circeo.
After climbing the scenic staircase, squared at the bottom and rounded at the top, on the first floor you find the beautiful council chamber with its 19th-century decorations. Connected to it, in the old “noble apartment”, are the rooms of the mayor and his secretary: the first is adorned with a majestic and interesting fresco showing the map of the Circeo promontory in past centuries, while the second has a vault frescoed with musical decorations. These rooms, although heavily restored, are the same ones that in past centuries hosted illustrious visitors to the Circeo. On the top floor, where the palace joins the Templar tower, are the finest and oldest decorations: in the current technical office the walls are frescoed with floral themes and an old red porcelain wood stove stands out; in the Public Works offices the 19th-century paintings are more varied and very fine, from a room painted in shades of yellow to a blue dome with images recalling cities. Further on is a room whose walls are entirely frescoed with floral, mythological and natural themes, and the view from its windows is breathtaking.
