Governor’s Palace

Built by the Baeles in 1612-13, it remained their property until the extinction of the family: in 1727 half of the palace was bequeathed to the monks of S. Francesco di Paola, while the other half passed to Lucifero and Proto. Around 1830 the D’Amico Rodriguez bought the whole building. The palace was the residence of the military governor of the city and hosted Louis-Philippe d’Orléans, future king of France.

It was renovated in 1724, in 1787-88, in 1811 and after the 1831 earthquake but we do not know the extent of the different works. The building rises between the Impallomeni street, traced at a higher altitude for which the prospect is sacrificed and corresponds to the noble floor, and the Via D’Amico where the facade has three orders of openings: on the ground floor opens the central door, simple arched between large windows of the service rooms (a decentralized door leads directly into the carriage house); on the first floor are three large balconies, with baroque balustrades, alternating with two chest balconies; On the attic floor a series of simple square windows conclude the facade without crowning. The interior has a special feature in the entrance, arranged so as to allow entry from both sides: in the vault is painted the coat of arms of D’Amico. Stables and warehouses are distributed on the sides of the atrium and occupy the entire ground floor. On the first floor, the central hall preserves the large stone slabs with traces of red coating; the vault has been painted with a decorative fresco with floral motifs, with fanciful panoramas within decorated frames.