Palazzo Senatorio

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Explore the development of Palazzo Senatorio as the historic centre of Trapani’s civic government, from its Baroque rebuilding and sculpted façade to the clocks that regulated public life in the city.

The civic palace

Palazzo Senatorio occupied an important position in the political life of early modern Trapani. Giuseppe Maria Di Ferro described the building in 1825 as the Casa del Comune or Palazzo della Città, the seat of the city’s Senate and the place where representatives assembled to deliberate on public affairs.

Its prominent position on one of Trapani’s principal streets gave architectural expression to this civic role. The palace stood beside Porta Oscura, the surviving medieval gateway that had once marked an entrance through the city walls but was subsequently absorbed into the developing civic complex.

The association of municipal government, public ceremony and civic timekeeping made this area one of the institutional centres of historic Trapani.

Giacomo Cavarretta and the rebuilding

The name Palazzo Cavarretta recalls Giacomo Cavarretta, whose patronage was closely associated with the transformation of the building. The monumental façade was constructed in 1671–72 with his financial support, replacing the earlier appearance of the civic palace with the imposing Baroque composition visible today.

Di Ferro also records a major renewal around 1696 under Fra Giacomo Cavarretta, Bailiff of Santo Stefano. The works enlarged the internal spaces, reconstructed the monumental staircase and contributed to the decorative development of the façade. A portrait of Cavarretta was preserved within the palace as a civic acknowledgement of his contribution.

These interventions transformed the existing municipal building into a monumental architectural statement appropriate to its role as the seat of Trapani’s government.

The Baroque façade

The façade of Palazzo Senatorio is arranged in three superimposed architectural orders. Pietro Castro designed the lower two levels, while Andrea Palma completed the upper section, creating the monumental composition that closes the vista along Corso Vittorio Emanuele.

The upper order contains three niches with statues carved by Giuseppe Nolfo in 1701. At the centre is the Madonna of Trapani, flanked by Saint John the Baptist and Saint Albert. Their presence above the seat of civic government linked the political identity of the palace with the religious devotions of the city.

The combination of architecture and sculpture makes the façade one of the most prominent expressions of Baroque civic architecture in Trapani.

The civic clocks

For centuries, public timekeeping at this location was associated with the tower above the adjoining Porta Oscura. Its astronomical clock indicated the phases of the Moon and served as Trapani’s principal public clock, with its sound intended to carry across the city.

In 1828 two new clock cases were added above the façade of Palazzo Senatorio, containing a clock and calendar. The clock was made by Giuseppe Lorito of Marsala and assumed the public timekeeping role previously performed by the older astronomical clock.

The two monuments therefore preserve successive phases in Trapani’s civic measurement of time: the earlier astronomical clock associated with Porta Oscura and the nineteenth-century clock and calendar prominently displayed above Palazzo Senatorio.