Grignani Palace in Marsala
The Palazzo Grignani stands in the ancient Piazza Carmine, which is also overlooked by the ancient convent of the Carmelite friars, with an adjoining church dedicated to the Madonna Annunziata, and by the neoclassical Palazzo Vaccara, now transformed into a hotel. br> Next to the Palazzo Grignano stood the Palazzo dei Cappasanta, which after the sixteenth century was acquired by the Grignano family who enlarged their residence towards the south, without however ever unifying the facades of the two buildings.
Palazzo Grignani is an eighteenth-century building which, however, retains some elements of previous centuries, such as the three architraved windows framed by a horizontal frame of mannerist style. The large portal with a round arch is framed by two high pilasters of smooth ashlar that support a horizontal frame. A balcony on the first floor stands out for its wavy threshold and a splendid wrought iron railing in the shape of a goose breast. Also noteworthy is the broken pediment, in which a beautiful ornamental medallion supported by gently modeled jambs is inserted. A strong overhang supported by corbels crowns the building. On the side elevation of via Garraffa the only important element is a balcony with the characteristic eighteenth-century goose-breasted railing.
Internally the building has a courtyard with a five-bay portico and a three-flight staircase that leads to the upper floors. On the ground floor there were several rooms: a stable, large warehouses to contain the corpses of wheat, the carriage room, two houses for the servants, a room for coal and a garden with fruit trees and various other plants. On the first floor there were the bedrooms and the kitchen, served by “trigger” running water. On the second floor there was a hall, where two doors opened, leading to other bedrooms, the chapel and a covered terrace with stained glass windows.
The building, returned to the city, houses the Municipal Art Gallery of the Ente Mostra di Pittura .
