Palazzo del Sedile

In the town of Francavilla Fontana you can visit the Palazzo del Sedile, built by the Imperiali family between the 17th and 18th centuries as part of an urban restructuring project. Together with the Porta del Carmine, some of the buildings still standing today were built to give the city an appearance worthy of the feudal lords.
Palazzo del Sedile was the seat of the Town Hall until 1821, while today it houses the Municipal Library, named after the Francavillese Giovanni Calò (1882- 1970), professor of pedagogy at the University of Florence and author of numerous philosophical, psychological, sociological and pedagogical works. The Renaissance-style building still retains its characteristic façade, enhanced by the presence of a beautiful series of columns that form a very special loggia, where the modernity of the library's facilities and the ancient architectural skeleton of the building become part of an extravagant but all the more fascinating fusion. Above the three central arches, we can see the curious presence of three coats of arms: in the centre, that of the Imperiali family, on the right, that of the town of Francavilla Fontana, and on the left, although not very distinguishable, that of the ruling House of Spain.