Palazzo Gioeni Asmundo
Catania, Italy
Open to visitors
The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.
Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.
On via Fragalà facing Piazza dell'Università in central Catania sits the Palazzo Gioeni Asmundo, a distinguished Sicilian Baroque palace designed by Giovanni Battista Vaccarini and completed in 1743 for the Duke Gioeni d'Angiò. The structure showcases characteristic features of Baroque Catania: its base rises in dark lava stone, while white stone blocks form framing pillars, and the piano nobile displays elegant balconies with metal balustrades and stone-framed windows ornamented with grotesque masks. The palace now houses University of Catania offices, sharing this function with two other prominent palaces on the piazza. A bronze monument added in 1920 by sculptor Mario Rutelli adorns the façade, honoring Giuseppe Gioeni d'Angiò (1743–1822), the duke's son, who gained renown as a geologist, professor of natural history at the university, and ardent collector of minerals and natural specimens, though his Napoleonic-era political involvement resulted in exile and Bourbon imprisonment. The palace underwent extensive remodeling in 1966.
Movement
- Built
- Type
- Palazzo, historic building
- Place
- Catania, Italy
This building on
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Location