Palazzo Montalto

Palazzo Montalto
Façade of Palazzo Montalto
Alternative names	Palazzo Mergulese-Montalto
General information
Status	Intact
Type	Palace
Architectural style	Chiaramontan Gothic
Location	Ortygia, Syracuse, Sicily, Italy
Completed	1397

Palazzo Montalto, also known as Palazzo Mergulese-Montalto, is a late 14th-century palace on the island of Ortygia in Syracuse, Sicily.

History

The palace was built in 1397 ^[1] for Maciotta Mergulese. This is commemorated by the following inscription on the façade:

Haec Mirgulensis Macciotta Palatia Struxit Cui Suarum Summa Virtutum Copia Surgit Anno Milleno Tercenteno Nonageno Septeno Mundo Verno Veniente Supremo

In the 15th century, the Queen of Aragon gave the palace to Filippo Montalto. It was used as a temporary hospital during a cholera epidemic in 1837, and it was used by the Figlie della Carità in 1854.

Architecture

The aedicula containing the inscription

The palace is built in Chiaramontan Gothic architecture. Its façade is characterized by a number of mullioned windows decorated with flower motifs. It also has a palline losanghe cornice, similar to the one found at Palazzo Falson in Mdina, Malta. ^[2]

The portal is topped by an aedicula containing a marble slab with an inscription and the date of construction.

References

1. accademia internazionale melitense - Carlo Marullo di Condojanni. p. 88.
2. Busuttil, Claude (1999). "A Double Act for the 'Norman House': Palazzo Falzon or Palazzo Cumbo-Navarra?" (PDF). Melita Historica. 12 (4): 416. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2016.