All Palaces in Matera

Palazzo dell’Annunziata is a Rococo-style palace located in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, in Matera. The front part of the palace rests on the 16th-century tower of Castello Tramontano.   SHORT HISTORY OF PALAZZO DELL’ANNUNZIATA The palace was built starting with 1735 as the new Monastery dell’Annunziata for the Dominican nuns, as is written on the architrave of one of the entrances. The architect Vito Valentino from Bitonto was in charge of the project, with the approval of the Pontifical Commission of Rome. In 1734, the project was ready, and in 1735 the work was already proceeding at full speed. However, a strong friction appeared between the Dominican nuns and the architect Valentino, and in 1739 the works were suspended and Valentino was removed. In 1742, Mauro Manieri became the new architect, called directly from Lecce together with the Simone brothers, who took on the commitment to complete the work and build also a new church. Before the construction was completed, the nuns temporarily settled with other congregations. Only in 1747, the nuns came into possession of the new monastery, with the construction not yet finished and without the construction of the church. About a hundred years later, the nuns finally decided Read more [...]

Palazzo Lanfranchi is a palace built in the second half of the 17th century in Piazza Giovanni Pascoli, in Matera, which today houses the Museum of Medieval and Modern Art of Basilicata.   SHORT HISTORY OF PALAZZO LANFRANCHI The palace was built between 1668 and 1672 by the Capuchin friar Francesco da Copertino, as a diocesan seminary, at the behest of the Archbishop of Matera, Vincenzo Lanfranchi. Built on a pre-existing convent of the Carmelites, whose order was suppressed in 1652, the palace was the seat of the city’s seminary until 1864. After the Unification of Italy, the building passed to the Piedmontese Government and became the seat of the Classical Lyceum and the National Boarding School. The palace housed the Lyceum until 1980. Later, it hosted the offices of the Superintendency for Artistic and Historical Heritage of Basilicata and, since 2003, it is the seat of the National Museum of Medieval and Modern Art of Basilicata.   ARCHITECTURE OF PALAZZO LANFRANCHI The asymmetric facade of the palace is divided horizontally into two orders by a cornice. In the lower order, there are five niches in which we can see the statues of San Nicola, the Madonna del Carmine, San Read more [...]

Palazzo del Sedile (Palace of the Seat) is an ancient palace located in the square with the same name, in Matera.   SHORT HISTORY OF PALAZZO DEL SEDILE Palazzo del Sedile was built in 1540 by the Archbishop Saraceno and was used since then as the seat of the Municipality of Matera. The current structure is due to the expansion and renovation works carried out since 1759. The offices of the municipal administration were housed here until 1944, and then moved to the former Monastery of Santa Lucia, in Via Luigi la Vista. Since 1982, the offices are located in the current and modern Town Hall, located in Via Aldo Moro. In the last decades, the palace changed its use, becoming the main venue of the National Conservatory of Music dedicated to the composer Egidio Romualdo Duni. The underground levels of the building host since the early ’80s a modern Auditorium with a capacity of about 450 seats.   ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF PALAZZO DEL SEDILE The facade of the palace is characterized by a large entrance arch flanked symmetrically by two bell towers, one with a sundial and the other with a clock. The facade is adorned with six Read more [...]