Palazzo Miramare, also known as the former Hotel Miramare building, is an important historic building on the central corso Vittorio Emanuele in Reggio Calabria, with its main entrance on via Fata Morgana and its other two façades facing the avenue and via Giudecca.
What to see
Designed by the engineer Ugo Fiaccadori in neoclassical style, with Liberty-style decoration in the interior rooms, the building was constructed as part of the city's reconstruction following the earthquake of 1908; it has a quadrangular plan, a basement floor and three storeys above ground, with a faux-stone base, a central panoramic terrace overlooking the seafront, and lintelled openings supported by corbels on the upper floors. Until a few years ago it housed the eponymous hotel, now closed; the municipal administration has plans under study to convert it into an exhibition space.
The area on which the palace stands holds important archaeological remains of the Roman city of Regium: during excavations for the building's construction, carried out between 1925 and 1926, a well, a large pithos for storing food and some hard-to-read coins came to light, along with a polychrome mosaic floor with geometric decoration; archival records also note Hellenistic and medieval-era material, confirming the area's long historical stratification. For this reason the palace has been placed under a protective easement by the Archaeological Superintendency of Calabria.
Visiting
The building is currently closed to the public while awaiting conversion; its exterior can be admired while walking along the avenue and the seafront.
Our editors' tip
As you look at the neoclassical façade facing the sea, think about what lies beneath it: few buildings in central Reggio hold the memory of Roman Regium so close, right under the surface.
