Palaces of the Nobility between 1600-1800 in the old city of Taranto: Architectural Survey for Urban Fabric Restoration

Abstract

The contribution is based on the study of noble palaces in the historic centre of Taranto, built between 1600 and 1700. These large buildings often impose their profile on already occupied terrain, incorporating existing houses in a new, unique palace. The survey and the comparative study of the architectural features has highlighted the characteristic any foundational elements of the architectural composition of these buildings. The palace projects had often a series of invariants related to the presence of paradigmatic elements such as, for example, a particular care in the design and setting of monumental portals , the constant presence of a courtyard or distributional atrium, experimentation in the design of staircase module. The analysis took place through a series of campaigns of relief carried out during 2013 throughout the urban fabric of the old city of Taranto. This analysis interest morphological and typological aspects of 20 important noble palaces located along the principal axis of the ancient Taranto, highlighting and updating each case, the structural and technological problems of each building.