Palazzo Campanella, or Palazzo Tommaso Campanella, is the seat of the Regional Council of Calabria in Reggio Calabria, on via Cardinale Portanova; jokingly nicknamed «the Spaceship» by locals for its shape, it stands on an area that previously held a military barracks, disbanded in 1942 after the events of the Battle of El Alamein.
What to see
The building, eight storeys tall with fully glazed façades, is made up of several blocks linked by metal walkways around an inner plaza, the Agorà, overlooked by the council chamber, named after the politician Francesco Fortugno and raised on large pillars; until 6 December 2013 one of the palace's halls housed the celebrated Riace Bronzes, which underwent careful conservation restoration during that period. Other notable spaces include the auditorium named after Nicola Calipari, inaugurated on 30 March 2005 with around six hundred seats, and the hall bearing the name of Nicholas Green, furnished with a monument donated by the American boy's family, made up of seven bronze doves.
The building also houses the Regional Council's library, founded in 1973 to provide documentation for regional councillors and later opened to university students as well; among the thousands of volumes in its multidisciplinary, legal and Calabria-focused sections, the oldest dates from the second half of the 17th century.
Visiting
The building is an institutional seat: access to the interior spaces depends on the hours and activities of the Regional Council, while the exterior can be freely viewed.
Our editors' tip
If you happen to visit during an exhibition or public conference, look for the committee room: the forty-six panels of Leo Pellicanò's «Garden of Adonis», inspired by ancient Athenian vases, are among the least known yet most original works kept in the building.
