The palace above the caves – today home to the MUSMA sculpture museum and the best place to see the city’s double structure from inside.
House on cave
The Palazzo Pomarici stands in the Sasso Caveoso and dates from the sixteenth century. Like many buildings in the city it sits on older cave rooms that served as cellar, cistern and workshop. Unlike most, here you can walk through them – the palace is one of the few places where both levels are accessible.
Inside
The combination of masonry halls and rock rooms is what makes the house. Above, right angles, stucco and windows; below, bare stone with chisel marks. Today the MUSMA uses both levels for its collection of contemporary sculpture – a combination that gives the rooms more than a conventional museum building would.
The name
Locally the building is called Palazzo delle cento stanze – the palace of a hundred rooms. The number exaggerates; the impression it gets right. Walk through the levels and you quickly lose track of how many rooms actually connect.
Practical
Access is through the museum. Steps lead between the levels; the route is not step-free. Below it is cool – pleasant in summer, noticeable in winter.
Read on
- MUSMA – the museum in the building
- Sasso Caveoso – the district around it
- The palaces of the upper town – the other palazzi
