Palazzo Asciutti-Hyeraci

Palazzo Asciutti di Martone (currently known as Asciutti-Hyeraci) is a palace with an interesting 19th-century façade featuring the typical pink plaster and slightly projecting corbelled balconies of other noble palaces, but it differs from them by its strange decorative motifs. in relief and stucco: mermaids, minotaurs, soldiers that express the picaresque taste of the local noble residences of the 18th and 19th centuries. This façade finds its prototype in many palaces in eastern Sicily: on two floors, four balcony windows alternate with six stucco panels, each containing a fantastic figure modeled in bas-relief and painted in colors of its time: two satyrs, two mermaids and two Saracen warriors wielding a spear, cast in metal and applied to its full volume. Each of the latter, located on the end panels of the first floor, has a framed shield at its feet. Palazzo Asciutti di Martone is a typical example of 19th century palace architecture in the Sicilian region, combining classical elements with fantastic and grotesque motifs in the decoration of the facades. This style reflects the local nobility's taste for ostentation and the exotic, and can be seen in many other palaces in the region. The palace, which now bears the name of Asciutti-Hyeraci, has undergone some renovations and changes over time, but its façade remains an impressive testimonial to Sicily's 19th-century architecture and decoration. Today, the building houses several offices and private apartments, but it remains an important historical and cultural monument in the city.