Palazzo Crociferi, Baroque town hall in Castellammare del Golfo, Italy

Palazzo Crociferi is a baroque administrative building in Castellammare del Golfo featuring a formal facade with decorative architectural elements from the seventeenth century. The structure displays the ornamental details and proportions typical of Sicilian baroque design from that era.

The building was constructed between 1659 and 1660 under architect Giuseppe Mariani. From 1663 onwards, it served as residence for the Crociferi religious order for over two centuries.

The Crociferi Fathers, named for the large red cross on their black habit, settled in Castellammare del Golfo from 1641 and ran the palace from 1663 to 1870. The annexed Church of Maria Santissima degli Agonizzanti, their spiritual seat, is now closed for worship and used as the municipal council chamber.

The building houses municipal offices and is accessible to the public during standard business hours. It sits in the city center and is easy to reach on foot from nearby streets.

On the main facade, just right of the entrance door, a circular wooden wheel called the ruota dei rejetti let mothers or both parents leave unwanted newborns anonymously with the Crociferi. The friars then arranged care and placement. In the first half of the 1800s the task fell to Vita Di Stefano (1795-1834), known in dialect as la za Vita la rutara.