The elegant and sober apartments of Pius VII in the livid atmosphere of a pope imprisoned by Napoleon, offer visitors the original furnishings made under the direction of Gen. Chabrol for the papal stay and valuable works of sculpture and painting by important artists.

The vicissitudes of the papacy and its relations with Napoleon Bonaparte forever linked Savona’s history with Pope Pius VII, who was imprisoned in the city from 1809 to 1812. The apartment in the bishop’s palace near the Cathedral, specially made to look like a palace, the pope in the guise of an illustrious guest. In reality, under the strict supervision of Prefect Chabrol, the pope was closely guarded, correspondence checked, visitors subjected to searches, and Mass attended behind a grille in the cathedral. An attempt for three long years to make the pope docile to the emperor’s will. The sumptuous rooms furnished in French taste, ceilings frescoed by Stefano Brusco, 18th-century canvases on the walls of the antechamber testify to the special arrangement.
The solemnity of the Throne Room damask on the walls and the restored baldachin contrast with the lonely, livid atmosphere of the frescoed studiolo provided with secret controlling access to the pope gradually rendered helpless and isolated but never surrendered. Displayed on the walls are several portraits of the pope, in particular the work by Gaspare D. Rastellino proposes a blessing pope of less introspective taste.

The room with the original empire-style bed and the canopy covered in green and ochre silk, the bedside table, the kneeler and the canvases on the walls perfectly revive the atmosphere of that time. The obligatory path leads toward the adjacent room of the Master of the Chamber with donations and diocesan art collections and further toward the narrow passageway to the tribune connected to the cathedral nave for a concealed presence at celebrations. Pius VII’s difficult Savona period was sustained by the participation of the faithful in his blessing from the marble loggia on the side of the cathedral where the papal coat of arms still testifies to its impartation. Pius VII’s stay in Savona is commemorated by the present “Via Pia” which replaced the name of Via Fossavaria. Here at the Sansoni Palace Pius VII stayed the first few days upon his arrival. With the Leipzig disaster, the pope was finally freed and returned in 1815 to the Sanctuary of Misericordia in Savona to crown Our Lady of the Apparition.

• The Bishop’s Palace.pdf
• Pius VII and Napoleon.pdf
• Pius VII imprisoned in Savona.pdf
• Prayer to the Servant of God Pius VII.pdf
• Process of canonization.pdf