Chinese building
Inside the Favorita Park.
It was made by Giuseppe Venanzio Marvuglia starting from 1799 commissioned by Ferdinand III of Sicily who had purchased a Chinese-style house from Baron Benedetto Lombardo, together with land bordering some premises. Marvuglia, who was the author of the previous building, created the work maintaining the oriental style: the central body ends at the top with a pagoda roof, supported by a drum octagonal. On the ground floor they are located porches ad pointed arch and on the two sides there are turrets with helical stairs see you soon, a work built by the master builder Giuseppe Patricolo, but probably designed by Marvuglia's son, Alexander Emmanuele. The construction presents curious elements: the bells of the entrance grate, the carved wooden beams of the terraces and the scallops.
The apartments are distributed over three floors. In the basement there is the ballroom and the audience room, all decorated by Giuseppe Velasquez. You go up to the first floor with an external staircase, there you will find the reception hall in Chinese style with fabric panels also painted by Riolo, the dining room with the ingenious "mathematical table” by Marvuglia and the King's bedroom with the vault painted in Chinese style by Codardi and Velasquez.
On the second floor was the apartment of the Queen Maria Carolina with two reception rooms and the bedroom with dressing room. On the top level there is a large octagonal terrace covered in a pagoda with a ceiling decorated by Silvestri. In the 1800 the back garden was arranged and Giuseppe Patricolo he took care of the "Chinese temple". G. Durante performed the “plant species Italian-style”, white marble basins with natural Chinese-style caves.
In the period 1800-1806 the two pavilions of the royal hunters were built.
With theUnification of Italy (1861-1946) the building and the park passed to the Savoy Crown and then to the State. Having become the property of the Municipality, the park and the building were intended for tourist visits while in the outbuildings there was room for the Pitré Museum. Later the stables housed the Agricultural Museum. (Source: Wikipedia)
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Photo: web
Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero Web,
Property included in the Multimedia Archive of Esoteric Cultural Heritage
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