Just off Piazza Marina, this palazzo is one of the few in Palermo open to the public. The walls of its 21 rooms are covered in acres of silk and velvet wallpaper, with vast embroidered wall hangings, frescoed ceilings, gaudy chandeliers and floors paved in coloured marbles, maiolica tiles and mosaics. English-language cards in each room provide information for visitors.
Memorable rooms include the tiny but extravagant Salottino Cinese (Chinese Salon) full of black lacquer, silken wallpaper and a rather conceited ceiling painting of European aristos viewing the room from above. It also features a leather-walled Fumoir (Smoking Salon), with walls of colourfully dyed Cordovan leather, and the Salottino di Diana (Lounge of Diana), with a swivelling statue of Apollo that leads to a secret passageway.
