Bellomo Palace Regional Gallery, Syracuse, Italy

Bellomo Palace Regional Gallery is situated in the premises of Bellomo Palace. The origins of the palace have been traced to the 12th century, the time of Hohenstaufen rule of Sicily. The palace still features a number of unusually well-preserved elements from this time. The main facade, as well as the basement and ground floor, still essentially retain the 12th-century appearance of the building.

Alterations were made in the 14th century and on a larger scale during the 15th century, when it belonged to the Bellomo family from which it derives its name. From this period, a number of details such as portals, mullioned windows and the staircase display influences from Catalan Gothic, a style which was popular on Sicily at the time (as Sicily was at the time part of the Crown of Aragon).

In the 18th century the palace and the neighbouring Parisio Palace were taken over by a Benedectine monastery who merged the buildings into one. In 1866 the palace was expropriated by the Italian state and serves as a museum since 1940. A renovation was carried out in 2004-2009.

References:

Wikipedia

Museums in Italy

User Reviews

Egle Cer (2 years ago)
Absolutely amazing place. Must see.

Jordan Šrámek (2 years ago)
I had been looking forward to seeing this collection. During my visit, the "guard" on the first floor sat and scrolled through pop music videos on his phone, at full volume. This could be heard throughout the rooms. When the man wasn't doing this, he was smoking just outside the door. The smell of cigarettes then came into the museum. What an absolute insult to the art, and to the people who paid to see it.

Christina Pelteki (3 years ago)
Beautiful museum, 8€ per person! Quite small but worth a visit!

Pavel Macek (3 years ago)
Super nicely done exhibition of local art, mostly religious combining everything from the medieval ones to the contemporary. We got lucky with a special temporary exhibition of costumes from the opera house in Milan.

Lois McEwan (3 years ago)
Nice building, collection a little sparse - the Ortigia lion is the highlight for me. €8 seems a bit much when Castello Ursino in Catania is only €6 with a far bigger and better collection. Always the Ortigia markup!

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