The building of the ex Loggia Comunale is located in

Alcamo Alcamo (; ) is the fourth-largest town and communes of Italy, commune of the Province of Trapani, Sicily, with a population of 44.925 inhabitants. It is on the borderline with the Metropolitan City of Palermo at a distance of about 50 kilometr ...

, in the

province of Trapani The province of Trapani (; ; officially ''libero consorzio comunale di Trapani'') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the autonomous island region of Sicily, Italy. Following the suppression of the Sicilian provinces, it was replaced in 2015 by ...

History

The citizens of

called ‘’loggia’’ the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

; this custom was common in many Sicilian towns, and is also proved by several notary deeds.P.M. Rocca: Di alcuni antichi edifici di Alcamo; Palermo, tip. Inside the Loggia, the town administrators held their meetings; the building is often mentioned in some documents dating back to 1525.Roberto Calia: I Palazzi dell'aristocrazia e della borghesia alcamese; Alcamo, Carrubba, 1997 It was rebuilt in 1548,Ignazio De Blasi: Discorso storico della opulenta città di Alcamo situata a piè del Monte Bonifato e dell'antichissima cittù di Longarico; trascrizione del manoscritto originale e realizzazione di Lorenzo Asta; Alcamo, 1989 according to the design of the architect Domenico Vitale, in the same place where the old one stood. Thanks to the suppression of the religious order by the order of the king

Ferdinand III of Sicily Ferdinand I ( Italian: ''Ferdinando I''; 12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1816 until his death. Before that he had been, since 1759, King of Naples as Ferdinand IV and King of Sicily as Ferdinand III. He was ...

, in 1767 the ''Giurati'' moved into the Ex Jesuits’ College, so making use of more functional and large premises. As a result, the loggia was completely abandoned and, in 1783 it was put on sale in order to devote the proceeds for the works of the new seat. In 1806, owing to the Jesuits’ return to Alcamo, the municipal authorities gave back the premises of the College and their seat was moved into Palazzo PalmeriniFrancesco Maria Mirabella: Alcamensia noterelle storiche con appendice di Documenti inediti p.28; Alcamo, ed. Sarograf, 1931 located near the

Mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral church, or ...

, the first year for rent and later by census, according to the deed dated 3 June 1807 by the notary Vincenzo Coppola. Nobody knows how long this palace was the municipality’s seat. The floor built in 1558 had already fallen down in the second half of the 18th century and part of the decorations were used in the new construction which was started in 1813. In the 20th century the owners of the lodge became the Tobia family and their heirs; in 1976 a part of the building, sold to a building contractor, was rebuilt, but its interior remained unaltered.

Description

The palace was distinguished for its

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

with two arcades, one in the Corso and the other in via Barone San Giuseppe; in the eleventh chapter of his work entitled "Discorso storico della opulenta città di Alcamo situata a piè del Monte Bonifato, e dell'antichissima città di Longarico ossia Lacarico, dopo detta Alcamo, su di esso monte" Ignazio De Blasi, the famous historian from Alcamo wrote: ''la Loggia vecchia casa della città, destinata per i negozi pubblici dell'Università, e dove si convocava il pubblico consiglio per gli affari dello stato, di bellissima architettura, con vari archi e porte nel mezzo degli archi, sostenute da pilastri intagliati d'ordine dorico e ionico. (That is: the Loggia which was the old

, intended for the public business of University, and where the Council held its meetings, of beautiful architecture, with several

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

es and doors in the middle of them, sustained by carved

pillars A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

of Doric and Ionian order.)'' The

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

is quite rich and imposing, with a high

pedestal A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

in shiny

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...

Carlo Cataldo: Guida storico-artistica dei beni culturali di Alcamo, Calatafimi, Castellammare del Golfo, Salemi e Vita, Sarograf-Alcamo (1982) and lesenes ending with fluted

corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a bearing weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applie ...

; the main door is located in Corso 6 Aprile: there is a

round arch In architecture, a semicircular arch is an arch with an intrados (inner surface) shaped like a semicircle. This type of arch was adopted and very widely used by the Romans, thus becoming permanently associated with Roman architecture. Termino ...

made with

ashlars Ashlar () is a cut and dressed stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, and is generally ...

. In addition, in via Barone san Giuseppe there are four entrances on the ground floor and three balconies with stone galleries. In the Corso there is also a big balcony with

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

and three entries.

References

Sources

* Roberto Calia: I Palazzi dell'aristocrazia e della borghesia alcamese; Alcamo, Carrubba, 1997 * Ignazio De Blasi: Discorso storico della opulenta città di Alcamo situata a piè del Monte Bonifato e dell'antichissima cittù di Longarico; trascrizione del manoscritto originale e realizzazione di Lorenzo Asta; Alcamo, 1989 * Carlo Cataldo: Guida storico-artistica dei beni culturali di Alcamo, Calatafimi, Castellammare del Golfo, Salemi e Vita, Sarograf-Alcamo (1982) * P.M. Rocca: Di alcuni antichi edifici di Alcamo; Palermo, tip. Castellana-Di Stefano, 1905 * Francesco Maria Mirabella: Alcamensia noterelle storiche con appendice di Documenti inediti; Alcamo, ed. Sarograf, 1931

External links

* http://www.alqamah.it/2014/01/29/historia-alcami-alcamo-citta-medievale-a-scacchiera/ Buildings and structures in Alcamo Buildings and structures completed in 1525 16th-century establishments in Italy

History

Description

See also

References

Sources

External links