The palace is a magnificent Swabian building and located in the center of Ortigia, close to the Font of Arethusa. It has maintained the original appearance even after several work carried out over the last seven centuries. Purchased in 1365 by the Family Bellomo, then it came to the Court of Frederick II of Aragon, and then was sold to the nuns from the Monastery of St. Benedict in the second decade of the eighteenth century. In 1948, the ownership passed to the regional board of cultural heritage and environmental conservation and became the seat of the Regional Gallery, and after a radical renovation, was reopened in 2011.
The Gallery describes the development of figurative art in Syracuse, and more generally in the south-eastern Sicily, with particular regard to the painting and the decorative arts. The collections of medieval and modern art gallery (paintings, sculptures and other artcrafts, dating from the Byzantine period to the eighteenth century) come mainly from the Archaeological Museum of Syracuse. Part of these collections came also from churches and monasteries of the south-eastern Sicily due to the suppression of religious orders after the unification of Italy, but others had come to the museum thanks to purchases and donations. The most famous painting shown in the gallery is the Annunciation (Annunciazione) by Antonello da Messina, painted in 1474, which,after a delicate restoration, recovered part of the ancient splendor. Owned by the gallery is also the famous Caravaggio's Burial of Saint Lucy (Seppellimento di Santa Lucia), now displayed in the nearby Church of Saint Lucia alla Badia in Piazza Duomo.
Address: Via Capodieci 14,16
Tel.0931 69511
Opening Hours
From Tuesdays to Saturdays 9:00 to 18:00
Sundays 09:00 to 13:00
Closed Monday
Ticket Price
Full price € 8.00
Under 25 € 4.00
Students, under 18 and over 60 free