Palazzo Marchesale Caracciolo

The Marchesale Caracciolo Palace is a historical building located in Cervinara, in Piazza Regina Elena.

An aristocratic residence of the family of the same name, the 90-metre-long Marchesale Palace dominates the surrounding square. The embryo of the Palace was built in 1581 by Giovanni Vincenzo Scalaleone, owner of the fief of Cervinara and a prominent member of the Neapolitan nobility. In 1631, the residence passed into the hands of the Caracciolo family and took on its current appearance as a Renaissance building. The architect of this renovation was Francesco Caracciolo, Marquis of Cervinara and Mottola, who endowed the structure with a series of unusual decorative elements that are still shrouded in an indecipherable halo of mystery. 

Today the Marchesale Caracciolo Palace is used as a location for wedding celebrations. The historical building has a characteristic C-shaped plan, preserving the large central courtyard and the splendid stone fountain over the centuries.  
One of the most beautiful rooms in the building is undoubtedly the Hall of Justice, whose uniqueness is represented by a coffered wooden ceiling decorated with a band of frescoes depicting scenes from Torquato Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered", alternating with medallions with portraits of the Caracciolo family members. Next to the main hall, there are other exclusive and elegant rooms, including the Noah's Ark Room, the Little Birds Room, where you can admire the very rare coffered ceilings and suggestive decorations, and the Billiard Room, where there is a small pontifical chapel built by Marino Caracciolo and consecrated by Pope Benedict XIII in 1727.

Halfway between architecture and esotericism, the majestic Marchesale Caracciolo Palace is one of the most significant and, at the same time, extravagant examples of Renaissance art in Irpinia.