Palazzo degli Elefanti

Catania, Italy

Palazzo degli Elefanti ('Elephants Palace') currently houses the Town Hall of Catania. The palace, located on the northern side of the Cathedral square, was begun in 1696 after the devastating earthquake of 1693, its original designed having been commissioned to Giovan Battista Longobardo. The eastern, southern, and western façades were however designed at a later stage by Giovan Battista Vaccarini, 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. In the second floor are paintings by the Sicilian artist Giuseppe Sciuti.

In 1736 Vaccarini erected a statue of an elephant carrying an obelisk in front of the Palazzo. It was probably inspired by Bernini's 1667 Elephant and Obelisk in Rome.

References:

Wikipedia

Palaces, manors and town halls in Italy

Address

Via Etnea 20-22, Catania, Italy

See all sites in Catania

Details

Founded: 1696
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Italy

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Cathedral of Syracuse (52,6 km)
Greek Theatre of Taormina (42,8 km)
Palazzo Corvaja (42,9 km)
Ear of Dionysius (50,3 km)
Bellomo Palace Regional Gallery (52,8 km)
Greek Theatre of Syracuse (50,3 km)
Palazzo Montalto (52,4 km)
Palazzo Duchi di Santo Stefano (42,3 km)
Temple of Apollo (52,1 km)

User Reviews

Daniel Siran (4 years ago)
Very nice

Eric Trip (4 years ago)
Finally I got to see the black dacked out elefant! Nice public space with lots of people.

Thuy Le (5 years ago)
Beautiful. Good food

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Hidden Gems of Finnish Archipelago

House of the Dragon Filming Locations

Historic Landmarks of Sicily

Photo from Flickr, copyright klasuli-fototechnik

Historic Site of the week

Krickenbeck Castle

Krickenbeck moated castle is one of the oldest on the lower Rhine. Its history dates back to the year 1104, when the castle was first mentioned. It is unclear why the old castle, which was certainly inhabited by Count Reginar, was abandoned or destroyed. In the mid-13th century the castle was moved to the current location. At the end of the 14th century the new castle belonged to the Counts of Kleve.

Johann Friedrich II of Schesaberg converted the castle into a Baroque mansion between 1708-1721. On September 7, 1902, a fire destroyed the entire mansion. From 1903 to 1904, a three-winged castle was built in the Neo-Renaissance style. Today Krickenbeck is a conference center.