Palazzo Auditore
The Palazzo Auditore (English: Auditore Palace) was the home of the noble Auditore family within the city of Florence. The building was easily recognizable by the flags bearing the Auditore family emblem.
History
Construction and conception
Initial sketches for the palazzo were completed by Leone Battista Alberti, but the actual plans were completed by the building's commissioner and owner, Giovanni Auditore da Firenze.[1] These included secret passages and rooms where Giovanni could perform his Assassin duties.[1][2]
Auditore execution
The building was completed in 1473, but in 1476, the Auditore family was executed and the building was abandoned, apart from a contingent of Florentine city guards stationed along the palazzo's roof.[1] The building remained in this state at least until the death of Girolamo Savonarola in 1498. Ezio Auditore visited his family home during Savonarola's Bonfire of the Vanities, where he experienced a ghostly vision of his family.[3]
Destruction
Between 1498 and 1500, rumours of the palazzo's destruction reached the surviving Auditore in Monteriggioni. When Ezio reached Rome in January 1500, Niccolò Machiavelli confirmed the palace had been destroyed.[4]
Trivia
- During the Cristina Memories of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the door to Giovanni's office is open and can be entered. In Assassin's Creed II, this area is inaccessible.[5][1]
- Also within the certain memory, the door which leads to Giovanni's hidden room is inaccessible. The secret entrance itself cannot be seen even with Eagle vision.
- In the novelization of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the Palazzo Auditore is referred to as the "Villa Auditore". The Auditore home in Monteriggioni is referred to as Mario's Citadel.[4]
Gallery
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The Palazzo and its surrounding streets. -
The Palazzo under guard.
References