Palazzo Fizzarotti, Gothic Revival palace in Corso Vittorio Emanuele, Bari, Italy.
Palazzo Fizzarotti faces south with five pointed arches flanked by two towers topped by domes decorated with gold-leaf mosaics showing the rising sun. Four polychrome mosaic medallions with gold-leaf backgrounds depict Phoenicia, Bari's old coat of arms with the founder Barinon, Lecce's coat of arms, and Emanuele Fizzarotti's personal motto "quamquam fractae vulnerant". The facade is in pierced stone with mullioned windows, and the third floor has a loggia whose colonnade supports the cornice.
Banker Emanuele Fizzarotti commissioned architect Ettore Bernich in 1910 to build this residence, incorporating medieval structures from the 13th century into the design. The building resulted from combining different architectural layers that belonged to different historical periods.
The four state rooms—Salone delle Arti e del Lavoro, Salone Trecentesco, Salone Rosa and Salone del Caminetto—are reached through a waiting room whose floor mosaic shows the winged head of Mercury, an allusion to the profitable financial dealings of Emanuele Fizzarotti. The Salone delle Arti e del Lavoro holds a painting cycle by the painter Rega, while friezes and wall works were made by craftsmen from Venice and Ravenna.
Palazzo Fizzarotti stands on Corso Vittorio Emanuele in the Murattiano district, its main facade facing south. The Archivio Poli, housed in the building, is being digitised and can be consulted by appointment; it holds documents, photographs and letters from 1915 to 1969.
The building sits above an underground water source called Mare Isabella, which influenced its construction methods. This hidden geological feature made the construction project a technical challenge for its era.
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