PALAZZO COSTANTINO

Palazzo Costantino (above), once a grand 18^th c. noble residence framing the northeast corner of Quattro Canti, but today an abandoned, broken-down wreck, is for sale---for only nine million Euros!  That might seem like a bargain to some people, but like so many things in Palermo, Palazzo Costantino is trapped in a sclerotic bureaucratic nightmare of cronyism, inefficiency, inertia, and lack of vision.

Given its past and its possibilities, the palazzo's story is predictably tragic.  The Journal of Cultural Heritage Crime lays it out succinctly.  A side note:  The article has fabulous photos of the palazzo.  I encourage you to view them if you want to get a better understanding of the palazzo's appearance. My photos were taken at night, in theatrical lighting positioned to illuminate the art works, not the interiors.  The rooms are huge, the ceilings very high, and it was impossible for me to capture the building with an iPhone.  In contrast, the article has photos taken in daylight by a professional photographer with the right equipment.  Nonetheless, I'm using my photos because they show what we saw that evening, which was a surreal landscape.

From Journal of Cultural Heritage Crime:

Built by Giuseppe Merendino in the second half of the eighteenth century on previous seventeenth-century structures, it overlooks the very central Via Maqueda and is the continuation of the Canto di Sant'Oliva, north-west of Piazza Vigliena. Purchased by the Marquis Giuseppe Costantino, in 1785 the building was the subject of an important renovation project by the architect Venanzio Marvuglia. The ceilings of the main halls were frescoed by Gioacchino Martorana and decorated with stucco, the long gallery with The Battle of Constantine was painted by Giuseppe Velasco….

During the Second World War the palace was confiscated by both German and allied troops and was the victim…of a brutal post-war plunder:  the decorations were severely damaged, the precious furnishings in Louis XV style and Louis XVI in carved and gilded wood were looted and most of the 18th century majolica floors were removed or vandalized. In the 1960s a part of the building was leased to La Rinascente [a large Italian department store chain], which obtained offices and warehouses by modifying several rooms.

With the purchase by Roberto Bilotti Ruggi d'Aragona and his project to recover the entire building, transforming it into an exclusive hotel, a new life seemed to have begun for Palazzo Costantino:  once the concessions were obtained, sampling and redevelopment and restoration work began, but were soon blocked and never again resumed. As evidence of that short season, Palazzo Costantino has been guarding for over three decades a crane in the internal courtyard that soars above the heads of citizens and tourists:  over the years, while waiting for the construction site to restart, the construction company went bankrupt and the monster crane of iron and concrete remained planted there because no one came to take it back. To guarantee public safety, avoiding the collapse and a massacre in the heart of Palermo, the crane - which is clearly visible from Via Maqueda - must be periodically inspected by the fire brigade.

After years of failed attempts and promises, Palazzo Costantino is therefore back on the market, accompanied by photos that make it recognizable only to the most knowledgeable and by a brief description: "PALERMO - in the heart of the historic center, a short distance from the sea, from the Norman Palace, the Duomo, the Railway Station and the Massimo Theater, a prestigious noble palace of the Baroque era consisting of six floors above ground built on the project of two important Palermo architects. The structure has a central courtyard, several terraces and skylights, vaults of the rooms decorated with frames, stuccos and paintings that are the work of two of the greatest artists of the eighteenth century: Gioacchino Martorana and Giuseppe Velasco. The main entrance is listed as an historical monument and therefore under the protection of the Superintendency of Palermo. The total area of ​​the lot is 8,000 square meters [= 86,000 square feet!!]. In the past, building permits were obtained for the necessary restoration and conversion of the property into a luxury hotel, with a project for a hotel with a restaurant, a bar, a shopping area, a meeting room, a wellness area and 76 rooms, 26 of which are suites. Excellent opportunity for prestigious representative offices or investment for Funds and Hotel Chains ".

Oh, yeah.  Sure.  If super rich, connected Roberto Bilotti Ruggi d'Aragona couldn’t pull it off, what makes you think you could?  

Back to Earth now.  Palazzo Costantino has been closed to the public for many years but in 2018 it was opened for Manifesta, a European nomadic biennial festival of art and architecture.  At that time, you could visit only the ground floor because the grand staircase to the upper floors was closed off.  This year, it’s on Palermo’s monuments circuit, Le Vie dei Tesori, which takes place every weekend in October, and this year, you could go upstairs.  WOW!!  But see for yourself.

You enter the palazzo from Via Maqueda, finding yourself in an enormous courtyard supported by gigantic columns and featuring the crane described above.

 

The courtyard terminates in a double monumental stair that takes you upstairs to the piano nobile.

The stair hall deposits you into one of the many formal rooms facing Via Maqueda that were open to the public by Le Vie dei Tesori for an art exhibit by French artist Juliette Minchin. The majolica paving in these rooms, as well as wall coverings, silk draperies, fireplace mantels, and frescoes have been either sold by the palace heirs or looted  for (my guess) mafiosi.  The rooms were theatrically lit for the exhibition, enhancing their surreal quality. 

This next room was so oddly furnished that I thought it might be part of the exhibition. It looks as if someone (or someones) had been sitting there, doing who knows what.  Admiring the tattered, fallen drapery on the shuttered window on the other side of the room?

An example of the majolica paving long since carted away, leaving only the traces of the tiles in the cement dust.

Perhaps the most impressive attributes of the palazzo are its frescoed ceilings.

 

And the pièce de résistance, The Battle of Constantine by Velasco.

Frescoed wainscotings have also been badly damaged but are still lovely. 

The views to the neoclassical interior courtyard from the enfilade of rooms illustrate the depredations of the bombardment of 1943, the subsequent military occupations, marauding thieves, and -- most of all--time.

As with real estate everywhere, it's location, location, location, and Palazzo Costantino has that in spades.  Here are some views overlooking Quattro Canti from the piano nobile. 

And last, but not least, although certainly lesser compared to this architectural gem, here is some of the artwork made by Mme. Minchin. 

There were other works by Minchin made of melted wax draped like cloth.  You can see one example in the first photograph of an interior room, above.  

I'll leave you with the video my husband took from the balcony overlooking Quattro Canti, the beating heart of Palermo, and with this thought.  Can you imagine four ultra-wealthy titans of industry agreeing to build their palatial town homes in a consistent, harmonious style, more concerned with the urban fabric than with individuating their own facades and selves?  No, I didn't think so.

                            

Keep it real!

Marilyn