Palazzo Biscari

Palazzo Biscari is one of Catania's most important Baroque palaces, built on the city's surviving sixteenth-century walls after the 1693 earthquake. Its Rococo ballroom, courtyard and richly decorated rooms reflect the ambitions of the Paternò Castello family and the artistic life of eighteenth-century Catania.

Why it matters

The palace was begun by Ignazio Paternò Castello, third Prince of Biscari, continued by his son Vincenzo and completed by his grandson Ignazio. It remains a family residence and preserves the history of the princes' collecting and patronage. Goethe visited in 1787 and recorded seeing the prince's coin collection and objects displayed by the princess.

What to notice

The entrance opens onto a central courtyard and a monumental pincer-shaped staircase. Seven sculpted windows face the old harbour. The Rococo ballroom, or Salone delle Feste, is decorated with mirrors, stuccoes and frescoes by Matteo Desiderato, Sebastiano Lo Monaco and Luigi Mayer. The sequence of rooms also includes the Sala dei Feudi and the Galleria degli Uccelli. The family's former archaeological, numismatic and natural-history collections later passed largely to the Museo Civico at Castello Ursino.

Context and history

Following the 1693 earthquake, Ignazio Paternò Castello obtained permission from Giuseppe Lanza, Duke of Camastra, to build on the surviving walls. The palace took shape over several generations, from the late seventeenth to the eighteenth century. The fifth prince opened rooms to scholars as a museum, among the first public collections in Catania. The palace has hosted exhibitions and concerts since 1971 and remains a privately inhabited historic residence.