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Palazzo Cappellani
Noto “All Ruined”
January 28, 2022
Gastro-archeology of Siracusa
January 31, 2022Palazzo Cappellani © Regione Siciliana Ph.Giuseppe Mineo
Palazzo Cappellani
Palazzolo Acreide
In Via Gaetano Italia stands one of the most interesting historical buildings of the town of Palazzolo Acreide. It belonged to the Cappellani family and was bought by the Region of Sicily during the Sixties to be used as an archeological museum to preserve the archeological findings of the civilization and cultures of Akrai. The building, probably built in the 18th century, has been refurbished many times up to the beginning of the twentieth century; today it has a classicising style, with outside a large door framed by tuscan columns which highlight the imposing facade, on the inside a large open space and a courtyard. On the first floor, the old rooms, once inhabited by the owners, have become home for the museum’s exhibitions, inaugurated in December of 2014.
“Palazzo Cappellani hosts primarily the collection of archeological material that was found during the archeological digs headed by Barone Gabriele Judica during the first decades of the 19th century on the area of Akrai”, says Rosa Lanteri, archeologist of the section of the Parco Archeologico di Siracusa which also includes this zone, “The museum is closely connected to the sub-colony of Siracusa and shows the visitors the everyday objects of the lives of its inhabitants, making the knowledge of the archeological site and its history more complete. The palazzo which contains the museum is also an interesting discovery for the traveller who wanders the streets of the historic centre of Palazzolo Acreide. The main objects on display are everyday objects which make the former inhabitants of Akrai feel more real. The visitor can imagine men who drank out of kylikes (two handled cups) after mixing water and wine in the large craters, or women that put on make up with the coloured earth contained in the small pyxes or who worked at the weaving looms of which plenty of terracotta weights remain. There are also the inscriptions from the catacombs, which have given us the names of Marcellina, Eutichia, Alfia, etc…”.
Palazzo Cappellani © Regione Siciliana Ph.Giuseppe Mineo
Palazzo Cappellani © Regione Siciliana Ph.Giuseppe Mineo
Furthermore, in Palazzo Cappellani, you might also find yourself at interesting conferences and temporary exhibitions of note such as the one that in August 2016 hosted, for a brief time, L’Annunciazione by Antonello da Messina from the Galleria Regionale di Palazzo Bellomo for an exhibition on the Renaissance. “We have decided to dedicate the room on the ground floor to temporary exhibitions, always connected to Akrai”,- Rosa Lanteri continues, “The material that comes from the most recent dig, headed by an Italian- Polish team, has been displayed here. One section, for example, has been dedicated to food remains, which are testimony to how the ancient people of Akrai would mainly eat sheep and pig meat, just like in the current farming tradition, while the consumption of fish is much less documented.” Another temporary exhibition presented the finds from archeological deposits, some of which were displayed for the first time. The visitor will be curious to discover, time after time, which new event or piece will be on display in this area of the Palazzo.
Inv 36968 Cappellani © Regione Siciliana Ph.Giuseppe Mineo
This invaluable local archeological museum acts as the natural completion to any tour of the nearby archeological sites and, together with the other local museums, it forms a continuous trail throughout time, from prehistory to the present day. “To have a 360 degree vision of Palazzolo Acreide”, Rosa Lanteri finishes, “it is important to visit the ethno-anthropological museum Antonino Uccello in the nearby Via Machiavelli (here visitors will be able to see the continuity of the farming culture and the connection between the ancient and the modern world) and the Museo dei Viaggiatori, in Via Maestranza, with the interesting collection of maps and ancient odeporic texts.”
January 2021
Inv 36968 Cappellani © Regione Siciliana Ph.Giuseppe Mineo
The Museo di Palazzo Cappellani is a site of the Parco archeologico e paessaggistico di Siracusa, Eloro, Villa del Tellaro and Akrai. Photos on concession of the Assessorato dei Beni Culturali e dell’identità Siciliana with prohibition of duplication, even partial, with any means.
