This wonderful residence, also known as the Palazzo Steri,

was built in around 1320 by Manfredi I Chiaramonte, the Count of Modica.

The external 14th-century architecture has Arab and Norman overtones.

Three main sections can be distinguished: the ground floor which opens on an inner courtyard with double arcades, with the crests of the Chiaramonte family still visible along the walls; the first floor, where the sala magna stands out on account of its beautiful frescoes painted by 14th-century Sicilian artists; the second floor, added in 1377, and left incomplete, of which only a drawing room remains.

Today the building is the site of the University offices, and only a part of the interior is open to the public.

Neighbourhood

Tribunali/Castellamare