Moncada Palace in Caltanissetta
Palazzo Moncada di Caltanissetta, also known as Palazzo Bauffremont, is a historic city palace that belonged to the Moncada family of the Paternò branch of the princes. The building is in classic Baroque style with various Renaissance features.
It was built around 1651 by the will of Prince Luigi Guglielmo I Moncada, also feudal lord of the Nissen county, based on a project by the Palermo architect Carlo D'Aprile. The project involved the demolition of the previous Moncada residence and its replacement with the new building which had much larger dimensions. An entire block of houses was demolished in place of which the rear side of the new building was built. Only after finishing this first part of the works would the front part be built, with a large front on the Strada Grande. But the participation of Prince Luigi Guglielmo in an anti-Spanish conspiracy led to his expulsion from Sicily and first caused a slowdown in the works and then their interruption. merit: the stone corbels that had to support the very long balcony that surrounded the noble floor were carved, with anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures, and all the frames of the windows and external and internal doors.
Today the building has been restored and reopened to the city it is home to exhibitions, cultural meetings and concerts. There are also two permanent exhibitions: one on the ancient lords of Caltanissetta, the Moncadas, and the other dedicated to the great Nissen sculptor Michele Tripisciano and his museum.
