Palazzo Municipale, Erice

Palazzo Municipale
Palazzo Municipale di Erice
The Palazzo Municipale on Piazza della Loggia
Former names	Palazzo Giuratorio
General information
Type	Town hall
Location	Piazza della Loggia, Erice, Sicily, Italy
Coordinates	38°02′18″N12°35′14″E / 38.03842°N 12.587128°E / 38.03842; 12.587128
Current tenants	Municipal offices of Erice
Construction started	19th century
Completed	1874–75 (enlargement incorporating Palazzo dei Marchesi Pilati)
Owner	Comune di Erice

The Palazzo Municipale is the historic town hall (Italian: Municipio) of Erice, Sicily. Located on Piazza della Loggia, it has served as the seat of the municipal administration since the 19th century. It forms part of a municipal complex with the adjacent Palazzo dei Marchesi Pilati.

History

The Palazzo Municipale stands on the site of the former Palazzo Giuratorio (English: "Palace of the Jurors"), which originated between the 13th and 14th centuries as the seat of the local jurors (giurati). ^[1] The medieval complex included a tower with a belfry and a small loggia, forming a third civic pole of the town alongside the Mother Church and the Castle of Venus. This structure was later modified and partially demolished. ^[1]

Until the mid-19th century, the seat of the municipal administration of Erice (then known as Monte San Giuliano) was located in the Balio Towers. Around 1861 the civic offices were transferred to new premises on Piazza della Loggia. ^{[1] [2]}

In 1874–75 the municipal offices were expanded by incorporating the adjacent Palazzo dei Marchesi Pilati. The ground floor accommodated the new Cordici Museum and Biblioteca Comunale, while the floor above housed the council chamber and municipal offices. A municipal theatre was created on the upper level. ^[3]

The municipal theatre functions were transferred in 1940 to the 16th-century former Church of Saints Rocco and Sebastiano (now the Teatro Gebel Hamed), while since 2011–15 the museum has been housed in the former convent of the Third Order of Saint Francis on Vico San Rocco. ^{[4] [1]}

The redevelopment of Piazza della Loggia in front of the building, begun in the 1880s to enhance the appearance of the renovated town hall and the new municipal theatre, gave the square a central civic role. It was enlarged again around 1930 through the demolition of adjacent buildings, and became a meeting place for professionals and workers with their offices and scagni (studies) around the square. ^[1]

The relocation of the municipal functions in the 19th century reinforced the historic civic pole around the jurors’ seat, complementing the existing centres of the Mother Church and the Castle of Venus, a pattern that continues to characterise the urban layout of Erice. ^[1]

Commemoration

On the façade of the building is a marble plaque installed in 1910 to commemorate the 875 men from Erice who joined Giuseppe Garibaldi’s 1860 campaign for Italian unification. Led by Cavaliere Giuseppe Coppola, they fought at the Battle of Calatafimi. The plaque records the town’s gratitude to its citizens who contributed to the liberation of Sicily. ^[5]

Gallery

• 
  The adjacent Palazzo dei Marchesi Pilati, now part of the municipal complex
• 
  Plaque honouring Erice citizens who fought for Italian unification.

References

1. Tusa, Matteo (2017). Erice: Planning for Life. Erice: Self-published. ISBN 9788892667327.
2. Vincenzo Adragna, «“Ministoria” di un palazzo», in Trapani Nuova, settimanale di attualità, cultura e sport, 23 gennaio 1987, p. 4 (rubrica Antiche cronache di uomini e cose).
3. Vincenzo Adragna, «Il maestro domenicano e l’aria del palazzo», in Trapani Nuova, settimanale di attualità, cultura e sport, 27 febbraio 1987, p. 4 (rubrica Antiche cronache di uomini e cose).
4. Polo Museale "A. Cordici", Fondazione Erice Arte. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
5. "Commemorative plaque on Palazzo Municipale, Erice". Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 2 September 2025.