Palazzo Farnese, Renaissance palace in Ortona, Italy.

Palazzo Farnese is a rectangular Renaissance palace on the eastern belvedere of Ortona, where the old Terra Vecchia quarter meets Terra Nova. Its facade on the Orientale promenade alternates smooth ashlar corner bands, and string-course cornices divide it into three bands of regular windows with semicircular pediments. It measures 49.70 metres on each side, with eleven windows per side, 4 metres high and 2.20 wide.

Margherita d'Austria commissioned the palace from Giacomo della Porta, and the foundation stone was laid on 12 March 1584 with the blessing of Bishop Giandomenico Rebiba. After Margherita died in 1586, work stopped; in 1619 Ranuccio I Farnese decided not to complete the building. From the 17th to the 18th century it housed the superintendent of the Farnese estates in Abruzzo.

The palace now hosts the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Cascella Gallery, displaying works by Italian artists including Basilio and Tommaso. The rooms show how this place has become a hub for local artistic creation.

The palace houses a library, art exhibitions, and historical collections accessible during regular opening hours throughout the week. Visitors should plan ahead to fully explore the different areas within the complex.

Margherita d'Austria placed three bronze medals, struck for the occasion, beneath each corner of the palace at the foundation ceremony of 12 March 1584. When the north-east corner collapsed in 1882 during work on Via Umberto I, the medals resurfaced: one went to the Austrian emperor, the others to the Cespa and Bonanni families. None is now traceable.