Casa del Puparo

Casa del Puparo is a house and monument in the Maregrosso district of Messina with a facade decorated with mosaics, sculptures, and recycled materials including glass pieces, car headlights, and tin cans. Today only the decorated front remains, as the rest was demolished in 2007 to make room for a supermarket parking area.

Giovanni Cammarata, a former mason who served as a soldier in Africa and worked in America, began transforming his house into an artwork in 1970. His creative work developed over decades as he invested his personal experiences and artistic impulses into the decoration.

The house displays religious figures, mythological scenes, and concrete sculptures created by the artist himself. These works show how one person transformed his surroundings to express his own dreams and visions.

The site is located in a residential neighborhood and is visible from the street, accessible for viewing from the outside since only the facade remains. A visit takes just a few minutes to see and appreciate the decorative front, and you can explore it at your own pace whenever passing through.

The creator renamed his street to Via delle Belle Arti and filled his property with colorful characters including cement elephants and a pool with a crocodile. This fantastical collection transformed an ordinary residential block into a visionary artistic environment that reflected his personal world.