The Carducci Artenisio Palace of Taranto is one of the main palaces of the Taranto aristocracy. The building has largely preserved its original noble characteristics, both in its fine decorations and furnishings. It was built in 1650 by Ludovico Carducci, a descendant of a noble family from Florence. The entrance to the palace is located in vico I Seminario.
History
The Carduccis represented a noble and ancient Florentine family, whose members held the highest institutional positions in the communal age, including those of Gonfaloniere and Prior, but following conflicts that arose with the advent of the Medici, they were forced into exile. The Carducci Artenisio branch moved to Puglia, and their presence in Taranto began with the appointment of Filippo Carducci as Captain and Governor of the city by Charles VIII of France. Over time, the descendants intermarried with the local noble families, so much so that the Carduccis gave Taranto as many as 14 mayors.
The palace has always been inhabited by the descendants of the Carduccis, who have thus preserved the typical characteristics of noble homes, while also carrying out restoration work on the interiors and the facade. In 1902 it hosted the Prime Minister Giuseppe Zanardelli.
Description
The building has an area of about 900 m², and its rooms are arranged around an internal courtyard. Still visible on the ground floor are the watering troughs and hooks for horses, the carriage storage, the servants' quarters, a Liberty-style canopy made in the early 1900s, as well as the black two-headed crowned eagle of the family coat of arms. A monumental double-ramp staircase leads to the balcony that introduces the noble apartment, where one can admire rooms with precious furnishings and ceramics, and valuable paintings including the 12 oval paintings by the painter Cesare Fracanzano, which represent the saints to whom the Carducci family was devoted: Saint Andrew, Saint Stephen, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Jerome, Saint Peter, Saint Sebastian, Saint Michael Archangel, and other not better identified saints. Also on the noble floor is a library with more than 5000 volumes, and the family chapel that was built by Mayor Ludovico Carducci, in which a relic of Jesus' cross is kept.
