Palazzo delle Finanze is an important building in the historic centre of Reggio Calabria, occupying the entire block bounded by via Fratelli Plutino, via Raffaele Piria, via del Plebiscito and via Diego Vitrioli, today home to the provincial offices of the Revenue Agency.
What to see
The building combines neo-Renaissance stylistic principles with Liberty influences, most evident in its floral-motif decoration; because of the sloping terrain, its façades are staggered, rising over two storeys above ground plus a basement on the via Fratelli Plutino side, and three storeys on the opposite side. The façades are divided into two orders: the lower one, comprising the basement and ground floor, is treated with smooth rustication to absorb the change in level, while the upper one, richer in decoration, is marked by pilasters with Ionic capitals and sections of exposed brickwork that create a pleasing play of colour.
The building has two portals: the main one, on via Fratelli Plutino, is round-arched with floral decoration and a lunette closed by ironwork; the secondary one, on via Raffaele Piria, is lintelled and topped by a tripartite lunette. The windows come in different types — lintelled with triangular pediments, round-arched, oval near the main portal, tripartite or five-part on the upper floors — while on the main façade, at cornice level, two decorative stucco reliefs depict the city's coat of arms; the building is topped by a decorated entablature and a linear parapet marked by relief colonnettes.
Visiting
The building houses public offices: it can be admired from outside while walking along the streets bordering its block.
Our editors' tip
Look for the two stucco reliefs with the city's coat of arms at cornice level: a small heraldic detail recalling that, before becoming a tax office, this building was conceived as a public symbol of the city.
