Castriota Palace

Majestic, monumental, and harmonious. The Palazzo Marchesale Castriota, one of the symbols of Melpignano, is a noble residence built in 1636, as indicated by the inscription on the attic of the cornice, at the behest of Giorgio Castriota, the Marquis of Botrugno and lord of Parabita, Supersano, and other fiefs. It is a splendid example of functional conversion achieved by incorporating parts of the pre-existing fifteenth-century feudal castle, equipped with crenellated towers, a surrounding wall with a moat, and battlement walkways, into a new facade and new spaces, following the model of refined Neapolitan noble residences. Built under the direction of Corigliano's Francesco Manuli, who was also the author of the nearby Church of the Augustinian Convent, the palace has a symmetrical, severe, and elegantly rhythmic façade. Its architecture and transformation from a fortified castle to a representative palace symbolize the renewal of the socio-political climate in seventeenth-century Salento. The main façade is dominated by the door consisting of an imposing frame and two Doric columns. Beautifully decorated, it features a French door on the overlying balustraded balcony. Beyond the main courtyard, going up a covered staircase with a spectacular view of the garden, you access the first-floor rooms, which were once reserved for the feudal lord and his family. On the lower floor, you find the rooms designated for the governance of the fief, such as the local Baronial Court, spaces for storing feudal revenues, and the prison cell. In addition, across from the Palazzo, there are two of the three underground feudal olive oil mills. In two of the ground floor rooms, valuable frescoes are preserved on barrel vaults, rediscovered during restoration. The paintings in the first room represent the ultimate symbols of qualities that should serve as a guide for an exemplary life: the myth of Lucretia, emblematic of chastity and marital fidelity, and the four cardinal virtues, Prudence, Fortitude, Justice, and Temperance. Meanwhile, on the vaults of the second room, a decorative ribbon with vegetal motifs encloses mythological episodes, including Hercules' second labor and bucolic glimpses of a garden with a fountain.