Palazzo Ravaschieri Fieschi della Torre

Palazzo Ravaschieri Fieschi della Torre or Palazzo Ravaschieri Fieschi-del Giudice is a 16th Century noble palace in the historical center of Belmonte Calabro, in the province of Cosenza.

Constructed between 1639 and 1640 on the instructions of Don Orazio Giovan Battista Ravaschieri Fieschi, 1st Prince of Belmonte, after the devastating earthquake of 1638, the palazzo has panoramic views over the Tyrrhenian Sea and of the coastal plain of Marina di Belmonte, and was the official residence of the Ravaschieri Fieschi family, Princes of Belmonte during their sojourns in Belmonte. The palace was built to assist in the defence of the Tyrrhenian Coast from saracen invasion

The palace takes the form of an “open U” giving onto a courtyard in which the prince's armoury and stables were located. Below the palace, along perimeter walls, there is a garden, from which runs an underground secret passage from the palace to the Palace of Rivellino at Marina di Belmonte.

The palace was acquired in 1798 by the del Giudice family, and during the Siege of Belmonte (1806) Tommaso del Giudice was killed by the Jacobins and his pregnant consort was hung from the windowsill of the palace by the mob. The window was thereafter blocked up, and remained so until the 1970's.

Bibliography

(IT) Gabriele Turchi, Storia di Belmonte, p. 117, Cosenza, Edizioni Periferia, 2004 (II Edizione), ISBN 88-87080-96-8