Along Via IV Novembre, just off Tre Martiri, you will find a temple with an interesting story behind it, the Malatesta Temple. Built during the renaissance (1450), but contrary to the typical notions of the time of giving glory only to God, this temple also glorifies a man named Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, the lord of the city. Sigismondo had an affair with Isotta Degli Atti, who first was his mistress and then his third and final wife, so he had the idea of building the temple as a mausoleum for his wife and himself (still buried there to this day). The original design was in gothic style and not what you see today. Somewhere along the way Sigismondo made sure to “revamp” the temple by designing its white marble façade with the best architect of the time – Leon Batista Alberti. Unfortunately, the building was never finished – leaving the interesting asymmetrical shape we see today.
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