Il Manganelli Palace e la sua storia

The last great eruption destroyed Catania almost entirely due to a violent earthquake that occurred in 1963.

The city was made up of many large buildings: one hundred churches and monasteries, twenty convents and the famous “plane of Sigona” which was originally the palace of the principles of Sigona, today Palazzo Manganelli.They had to spend about thirty years when the city finally found the strength to rise.

Thanks to instruments found in the notarial store Palazzo Manganelli, we have to know its origin and the events that have constituted its history.

The construction of Manganelli Palace dates back to 1500.Originally it belonged to the noble Sigona family that granted it in 1665 as dowry to his daughter Isabella for the wedding of Don Alvaro, son of Francesco Paternò and Maria Lazzari.

The building looked, like today, on the so-called Chiano, whose roof garden was leaning against the ramparts of the city walls.

From 1505 succeeded different owners, but the aspect that we find today comes from the reconstruction of second son of Mr and Mrs Paternò-Sigona, who had it rebuilt in the tipical style of the buildings in Catania.

Today the building is owned by Angela Manganelli, daughter of Don Alvaro VI ‘ prince of Sperlinga ‘ , and wife of the prince of Sulmona XII Flavio Borghese.

It was rebuilt by the famous architect Alfonso di Benedetto, even if it does not keep within eighteenth-century style but has undergone renovations, including in particular the main staircase which was restored by the Paternò family.