Brief History
The Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio is a building in the Borgo District of Rome and an extraterritorial area of the Holy See in Italy. It houses the headquarters of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and other institutions of the Roman Curia. The palazzo is located south of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, adjacent to the Patriano entrance. In its present form, the building derives from the earlier Palazzo Pucci, which dates back to 1514. Here is a brief history of this historic building:
1514. To build his new residence, Cardinal Lorenzo Pucci purchased some dwellings of the Gozzadini family near St. Peter’s Basilica, between the Church of the “Camposanto Teutonico,” that of San Salvatore in Terrione and the barracks of the Cavalleggeri, on an area ceded by Prince Constantine of Macedonia.
1524–1525. The design of the facade of the palazzo was commissioned by the architects Giuliano Leno and Pietro Rosselli, as well as by Michelangelo (Buonarroti) himself.
1531. Cardinal Lorenzo Pucci dies.
1532–1534. The architect Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane is commissioned to carry out some work to complete the palazzo.
1547. Cardinal Roberto Pucci, the brother of Lorenzo, dies. The Florentine branch of the Pucci family inherits two-thirds ownership of the palazzo.
1566. Pius V (Antonio Ghislieri) buys the whole palazzo from the heirs of the Pucci family for the price of 9,000 scudi.
1566. The architect Pirro Ligorio, in collaboration with Giovanni Sallustio Peruzzi, is commissioned to restore the palazzo and convert it into the headquarters of the Holy Office.
1566 (September 2). The new palazzo of the Holy Office is inaugurated.
1586. Sixtus V (Felice Peretti) commissions the construction of prisons inside the palazzo.
1591–1592. Some renovations to the palazzo are entrusted to architect Giacomo della Porta.
1798. During the first French invasion (1798–1799), the palazzo was ravaged by revolutionary troops, stripped of its furnishings, and reduced to a lamentable state.
1799. The Cardinal Inquisitors-General, at a meeting in conclave in Venice, order that the palazzo be restored.
1801. The Sacred Tribunal is re-established in the palazzo.
1811–1814. Leo XII (Annibale Della Genga) orders the restoration of the palazzo and the refurbishment of the prisons.
1849–1851. The palazzo is occupied again, first by troops of the Republican Government of Rome, and later by French militias intervening to restore papal authority after the end of the Roman Republic.
1869. Pius IX (Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti) orders the completion of the facade of the palazzo that faces the Via del Sant’Uffizio.
1908. Pius X (Giuseppe Melchiore Sarto) reorganizes the Holy Office, changing its previous name of the “Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition” to the “Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office.”
1921–1925. Pius XI (Achille Ratti) commissions the architect Pietro Guidi to renovate the palazzo and build a new facade. The present appearance of the palazzo dates substantially to this renovation.
1944 (March 1). During an air raid, several bombs fall on the Vatican area, damaging the Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio, the headquarters of the Oratory of Saint Peter and the extraterritorial College of the Propaganda Fide and the Augustinian Fathers. The bombs also damage the Cortile di San Damaso, the Piazza Santa Marta, and the train station.
1965. Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini) redefines and expands the powers and structure of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, changing its name to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Currently, the Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio is home to the following institutions:
· Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (with its Archives)
· Pontifical Biblical Commission
· International Theological Commission.
