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Palazzo degli Elefanti (English: "Elephants Palace") is a historical building in Catania, region of
The main facade of the palace, faces the northern side of the rectangular Piazza del Duomo; while across the square, on the southern end stands the Palazzo del Seminario dei Chierici. The Palazzo degli Elefanti was begun in 1696 after the devastating earthquake of 1693. Construction was begun using the designs of Giovanni Battista Longobardo. The eastern, southern, and western façades were however designed at a later stage by Giovan Battista Vaccarini, a highly prolific architect of Catania during its urban reconstruction in the 18th-century, while the northern one was by Carmelo Battaglia.
The staircase opening to the inner court with four porticoes was added in the late 18th century by
La Storia di Catania
4th Volume, by Vincenzo Cordaro Clarenza, published by Salvatore Riggio, Catania 1834, pages 13-14. The arrangement by Vaccarini of the ''Fontana dell'Elefante'' was almost certainly inspired by Bernini's 1667
Palazzo degli Elefanti (English: "Elephants Palace") is a historical building in Catania, region of Sicily
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, southern Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. It currently houses the city's Town Hall. In the past, the prior building was also known as the Palazzo Senatorio or Loggia Senatoria.
History and description
The main facade of the palace, faces the northern side of the rectangular Piazza del Duomo; while across the square, on the southern end stands the Palazzo del Seminario dei Chierici. The Palazzo degli Elefanti was begun in 1696 after the devastating earthquake of 1693. Construction was begun using the designs of Giovanni Battista Longobardo. The eastern, southern, and western façades were however designed at a later stage by Giovan Battista Vaccarini, a highly prolific architect of Catania during its urban reconstruction in the 18th-century, while the northern one was by Carmelo Battaglia.
The staircase opening to the inner court with four porticoes was added in the late 18th century by Stefano Ittar
Stefano Ittar (March 15, 1724 - January 18, 1790) was a Polish-Italian architect.
Biography
Ittar was born in Owrucz (then in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, now in Ukraine), where his father, a member of one of Italy's aristocratic fa ...
. In the second floor are a series of large historical and one religious oil paintings by the Sicilian artist Giuseppe Sciuti
Giuseppe Sciuti (Zafferana Etnea, Sicily, 26 February 1834 - Rome, 13 March 1911) was an Italian painter.
Biography
His father, a pharmacist, insisted his son follow his trade. But he relented and allowed Giuseppe to study locally at age 15, and ...
, painted circa 1900.
Obelisk, elephant, and fountain
In 1736 in the center of Piazza del Duomo, Vaccarini erected a fountain with an ancient black lava stone statue of an elephant carrying on its back an Egyptian red granite obelisk, marked with hieroglyphs. It is not known how the obelisk originally came to Catania, but it was suspected to be a decoration of some ancient Romanhippodrome
The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used i ...
. Until 1620 the obelisk had served as an architrave to an arch at the episcopal palace. In 1677, it had been erected standing (sans elephant) in the courtyard of the Palazzo degli Elefanti, but like nearly everything else in town, it was toppled in 1693. The base of the fountain has two reliefs depicting allegorical images of the two rivers that once coursed through Catania: the Simeto and Amenano.4th Volume, by Vincenzo Cordaro Clarenza, published by Salvatore Riggio, Catania 1834, pages 13-14. The arrangement by Vaccarini of the ''Fontana dell'Elefante'' was almost certainly inspired by Bernini's 1667
Elephant and Obelisk
''Elephant and Obelisk'' is a statue of an elephant carrying an obelisk, designed by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It was unveiled in 1667 in the Piazza della Minerva in Rome, adjacent to the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, where ...
in Rome. The elephant ''u Liotru'', however, has been for centuries a symbol of the city.
References
Sources
* Houses completed in the 18th century Palaces in Catania 18th-century establishments in Italy City and town halls in Italy 18th-century architecture in Italy {{Italy-palace-stub