Palazzo Ciampoli description and photos - Italy: Taormina (Sicily) (Topic)

Palazzo Ciampoli description and photos - Italy: Taormina (Sicily). Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Palazzo Ciampoli.

Photo and description

Palazzo Ciampoli is the latest of all medieval buildings in Taormina, as its construction dates back to the early 15th century. The date of the birth of this wonderful palace - 1412 - is immortalized on the coat of arms, installed above the main entrance to the Palazzo.

In 1926, the Palazzo Vecchio hotel was built on the territory of the Palazzo Ciampoli garden, architecturally repeating the famous Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, also known as the Palazzo della Signoria.

Just a couple of years ago, Palazzo Ciampoli was home to one of the most popular nightclubs in Taormina - “Sesto Acuto”, which can be translated as “pointed vault”. The name of the club was given to it because of the vaulted arches that adorn the building in accordance with the canons of the Gothic style in which it was built.

Since on the facade of Palazzo Ciampoli and another palace in Taormina - Palazzo Corvaja, you can see the same heraldic shields - one with a shield and a flag, and the other with a shield and three stars, it can be assumed that both buildings once belonged to the noble family of Corvaja, and later one of the palaces became the property of the Ciampoli family.

The only remarkable part of the Palazzo Ciampoli is its main facade, which stands on wide and steep steps that serve as a natural foundation. Initially, there was a large open courtyard in front of the building, but, unfortunately, today only a portal with rounded arches made of local marble and two bas-reliefs depicting the heads of Roman emperors in the corners remain of it. The palace was seriously damaged during the bombing during the Second World War. The above portal was almost completely destroyed, but was later restored using the same marble.

The features of Catalan architecture are easily recognizable in the Palazzo Ciampoli. In fact, it has many typical Spanish elements: for example, its short northern facade has a single window with an architrave beam that forms a scallop - an ornamental strip with downward-facing stepped teeth. And the top of the main facade is decorated with a small triangular merlon, which, however, is not as impressive as the forked merlons of other medieval buildings in Taormina.

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Topic: Palazzo Ciampoli description and photos - Italy: Taormina (Sicily).