Palazzo del Bufalo, today an office building, occupies the corner of the block between Corso Vittorio Emanuele III and via Cavour, in the heart of Reggio Calabria's historic centre; it once housed the local branch of the National Social Insurance Fund.
What to see
Designed by the engineer Tommaso Del Bufalo, after whom it is named, the building was begun in 1922 and completed in 1926: it is one of the city's most notable examples of Liberty-style architecture. It has a square plan with a central courtyard, a basement floor and two storeys above ground; the main façade, on Corso Vittorio Emanuele III, has a decorated entrance with double round-arched portals framed in faux stone and flanked by columns, while the lintelled ground-floor windows, framed in the same material, rest on a base that also encloses the barred basement windows.
On the upper floor, the smooth plastered walls are broken by lintelled openings, some with balconies on corbels and wrought-iron railings; the same elements are repeated on the side façade along via Cavour. A richly decorated frieze with floral motifs runs along all the façades, topped by a cornice and a linear balustrade that rises above the main entrance.
Visiting
The building, now used as offices, can be admired from outside while walking along Corso Vittorio Emanuele III and via Cavour.
Our editors' tip
Look for the decorative floral frieze running beneath the cornice: it is the most distinctly Liberty-style detail on the whole building, setting Palazzo del Bufalo apart from the more sober neoclassical palaces of Reggio's historic centre.
