Malfitano Palce in Naro
Daniele Sorce - CC4.0
Palazzo Malfitano in Naro is an illustrious example of the city's civil architecture. The palace houses the Naro Civic Museum.
It was built in the 15th century and belonged to the Lords of Giacchetto, for this reason the palace is also known as Giacchetto Palace.
. It was donated to the city by Donna Antonia Notarbartolo, Marchioness of Malfitano and descendant of the Giacchetti, after the current church of San Francesco was built, which took away the palace's view of the sea and the valley. The palace welcomed nuns who were to educate girls of all classes in the faith, a commitment undertaken in 1749 by the nuns of the College of Mary.
The building, whose style is influenced by Spanish, features architectural elements typical of the Sicilian building tradition: the oblique portal, the external base, the cracked opening and the corner buttress. Of particular interest is a corner window with a lintel, a wonderful example of construction technique and very rare due to the difficult static conditions to which it is subjected. It features a thin column whose function is purely ornamental, while the very heavy pediment is supported independently by an ingenious system of internal arches arranged in such a way that the resultant of the central force is balanced and overcome by the resultant of the lateral force.
