PALAZZO CHIARAMONTE

This palace - also called Steri, de Hosterium, fortified palace - was built by the Chiaramonte family between 1306 and 1380, one of the most powerful families of the kingdom in the 14th century. It was so successful that it became a style in its own right: the sumptuous "Chiaramontano Gothic", which inspired other buildings, mainly in the province of Agrigento where the Tale of Modica reigned, but also throughout Sicily, including the churches of Sant'Agostino and San Francesco d'Assisi in Palermo. Its main originality: the zigzag moulding of the portals, columns and mullioned windows, borrowed from the Arabs and adopted by the Normans. For a long time this palace was one of the centres of the city's political life, housing in the 16th century the great Parliament of Sicily, the Holy Office, then in the 17th century the seat of the Inquisition Court of Sicily until 1792, and finally the courts until 1960. It now houses the rectorate of the University of Palermo. Despite an unfortunate restoration in the 20th century, which removed an antique clock, the exterior retains superb double-windowed bays, decorated with polychrome inlays. On the upper floor, there is the Barons' Lounge with a superb Hispano-Arabic wooden ceiling from 1377, depicting biblical and chivalric episodes. The visit includes an optional visit to the annex that served as a prison during the Spanish Inquisition. Many nobles, intellectuals and religious (including the bishop of Monreale) were imprisoned there, sometimes until their death .