Visit
Address: Via San Bonaventura 22, Caltagirone (CT)
Palazzo Spadaro Libertini is one of the oldest palaces in Caltagirone, rebuilt on a preexisting 16th-century structure that can be traced back to the unfinished palace that belonged to Bonaventura Secusio, bishop of Catania and diplomat born in Caltagirone in 1558. Reconstruction work was begun in 1725 by Barbaro Maggiore Marquis of Santa Barbara and completed in 1732.
The palace is located in the historic center of Caltagirone at 22 Via San Bonaventura, a few steps from the famous staircase of Santa Maria del Monte and near the splendid 17th-century church of San Bonaventura, which integrally survived the terrible earthquake of 1693 that destroyed most of the monuments and palaces of eastern Sicily.
In 1871 a descendant of Barbaro Maggiore sold most of the palace to his relative Michelangelo Libertini of the Barons of S. Marco, Patrician of Caltagirone, who made it, on the piano nobile of what is now house number 22, his own sumptuous residence, which he furnished with white and gold lacquered fixtures and furniture made in France on a par with damask and Aubusson carpets that were ordered respectively from textile factories near Versailles and Aubusson specifically for the salons for which they were intended. The vaults of the Salons, the layout of which has been remodeled from that of the original Maggiore, have been had decorated by the best local artists and enriched with paintings by Francesco Vaccaro, a member of the renowned family of Calatini artists, authors of works found in churches and museums in Caltagirone as far as the Ragusa area. The doors of the Representative Halls are made of glass embellished with splendid paintings depicting exotic animals and flowers that recall the decorations of the vaults in a single inseparable decorative motif that makes the decoration of the spaces balanced.
Visits by reservation
Visits can be booked for groups of a minimum of 8 people. The price of visit is to be agreed according to the number of participants.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.dimorestoricheitaliane.it/dimora/palazzo-spadaro-libertini
