Palazzo Trapani Lombardo is an old building in the historic centre of Reggio Calabria, occupying part of the block between Corso Garibaldi and via Biagio Camagna and via Diana.
What to see
Once belonging to the family of senator Antonio Trapani Lombardo, the palace was built after the earthquake of 1908 to a design by the engineer Gino Zani, as part of the city's great reconstruction plan; it combines motifs from the neoclassical tradition with rich Liberty-style decoration, its façades marked by vertical pilasters and horizontal string courses that form a regular architectural grid.
The building rises over two floors above ground plus a small attic: on the ground floor, facing the avenue, large shop windows open onto commercial premises, while the upper floors hold homes and offices. The main entrance, on via Biagio Camagna, is a large arched portal flanked by columns with Corinthian capitals, topped by a balcony of the noble floor enclosed by a broken curved pediment with a coat of arms at its centre amid floral decoration; on the upper floors, balconies with balustrades of bulging little columns follow one another, alongside openings that are sometimes arched, sometimes lintelled, some decorated with gorgon-head masks.
Visiting
The palace is a private building: it can only be admired from the outside, while walking along Corso Garibaldi and via Biagio Camagna.
Our editors' tip
Look up at the balcony above the main portal: the gorgon-head mask and the floral decoration around the family coat of arms are the most carefully worked details on the whole façade, often overlooked by those hurrying along the avenue.
