Palazzo Pantaleo, Taranto

Taranto's Palazzo Pantaleo is an 18th-century building owned by the municipality. From 2000 to 2007 it housed some collections of the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto in the Old City. It is currently home to the Alfredo Majorano Ethnographic Museum.

It was built in 1770 by Baron Francesco Maria Pantaleo, who built a spacious and sumptuous aristocratic residence after demolishing some pre-existing structures purchased from the Chapter and Clergy of Taranto. The palace overlooks the Mar Grande, with the main entrance on the Pantaleo ramp after which it is named.

Thanks to its location on the Rada di Mar Grande, which leads toward the Ponte di Porta Napoli bridge, the baron could keep an eye on his lands and the embarkation of products on departing ships. The commission to build the palace on the natural cliff, was given to Francesco Saverio Miraglia for a fee of 3,150 silver ducats, agreeing to complete the work within the next two years. All the material obtainable from the palace to be demolished and all the carparo obtainable from the calcarenitic bench was used; only for the main door and the loggia above it was explicitly requested that first-quality carparo be used, to be quarried elsewhere and transported to the site.

The building presents a unified layout and lacks an inner courtyard. The main facade has a forepart and a wide portal, from which protrudes the rounded wrought-iron railing of the loggia above. Still visible on the ground floor are a vaulted hallway richly profiled adorning the crenellated tower and the lion of the family coat of arms, perfectly preserved stables, a coach house, and a large service room with an independent entrance on vico Civico.

On the middle floor, on the other hand, are the servants' apartments and the large kitchen with the original blue and white majolica tiles. A monumental double-ramp staircase leads to the first piano nobile, where one can admire the reception rooms with ceilings painted by Domenico Antonio Carella in 1773, depicting scenes from the Aeneid and Iliad. These works were paid for with 235 silver ducats plus grain, oil and cheese. Finally, through another staircase, one can reach the second floor, where there are more rooms with ceilings painted on paper attached to wooden ceilings.