{"id":67821,"date":"2015-05-09T11:18:31","date_gmt":"2015-05-09T10:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sicile-sicilia.net\/?p=67821"},"modified":"2026-10-12T21:51:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T20:51:55","slug":"chinese-palace-of-palermo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sicile-sicilia.net\/en\/chinese-palace-of-palermo","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Palace of Palermo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Located inside the Parco della Favorita<\/strong> on Mount Pellegrino<\/strong><\/a>, the intriguing Chinese Palace<\/strong> (Palazzina cinese<\/em> in Italian) with its oriental style was built by the Bourbon king Ferdinand III of Sicily<\/strong> in 1799 (also named Ferdinand Ist<\/sup><\/abbr> of the Two Sicilies) to be his residence. The architect Venanzio Marvuglia<\/strong> blended neoclassical and oriental inspirations, creating a highly original monument.<\/p>\n

Visit and architecture of the palace<\/h2>\n

Square in shape, the building has five levels including three stories, and is topped by a pagoda. It is made up of numerous original and rather disparate elements. From the outside, the ground floor is surrounded by pointed-arch porticoes, and on both sides stand turrets with open helical staircases.<\/p>\n

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Chinese Palace<\/p><\/div>\n

The various interior decorations are very rich, in exotic, Chinese, Turkish, or neoclassical and Pompeian styles. Great Palermo painters and Neapolitan artists contributed to them. There are also magnificent eclectic furnishings, often of Chinese or antique inspiration.
\nIn the basement is the ballroom<\/em> in Louis XVI style decorated by Giuseppe Velasquez<\/strong>, the audience hall<\/em> also known as the Chinese room<\/em>, or the king’s bathroom.
\nThe first floor can be reached via the exterior staircase, with the Chinese-style reception room with its painted fabrics, the dining room and the “mathematical table” of Marvuglia <\/strong>– whose mechanism allows dishes to be raised directly onto the table, inspired by the one Loriot created for Louis XV in the Petit Trianon -, or the king’s bedroom<\/em> with its Chinese-style vault.
\nOn the second floor are the queen’s quarters with her reception rooms such as the Turkish salon<\/em>, the bedrooms and the very beautiful bathroom.
\nOn the top floor, the large octagonal terrace is covered by a pagoda.<\/p>\n

Behind the palace stretches a charming Italian garden with its hedges, fountains and centuries-old trees.
\nAn outbuilding houses the Pitr\u00e8 Ethnographic Museum<\/strong><\/a>, dedicated to Sicilian folk arts and traditions, founded in 1909.<\/p>\n

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