Palace of the Popes, Orvieto: View of facade, with enclosed loggia

The facade has now been restored to the original plan, and the loggia re-opened at the bottom. Stairs on left side lead to the piano nobile.\u000a\u000aThe Palazzo Papale (now Palazzo Soliano) attached to the right of the cathedral was originally begun in the mid-13th century when the popes moved to Orvieto to escape conflict in Rome. Pope Urban IV and Pope Martin IV both lived in the town and probably oversaw construction of the initial stages of this building. Pope Boniface VIII extended the building (1297), but it was left unfinished following the papal move to Avignon in 1309. It remained a papal residence until 1550, when it was passed to the ownership of the cathedral, who after using it as a residence for sometime redesigned it in 1896 as a museum. The Museo Opera del Duomo is now located in the grandiose Gothic hall on the piano nobile.