| The Castle of Nardò or Palace Acquaviva, then Personè, is the seat of the Town Hall of Nardò since 1934. It has a quadrangular plan, bordered by four round keeps and scarp walls. The actual façade, in an eclectic style, with the high keep and the crenellated curtain wall, has been realized at the beginning of the 20th century by the Personè, who wanted to transform the fortress in a real noble residence. In the castle garden there is the city garden, in the shape of a nineteenth-century botanical garden.
During its six centuries of history, the Castle of Nardò has undergone a lot of rearrangements. It’s located on a previous fortress that in its turn had replaced in 1270 the Norman-Suevian Castle. The actual construction, built about in 1497 on a plan of the military architect Giulio Antonio Acquaviva, seems to be a typical Aragonese fortress, with a quadrangular plan, bordered by four round keeps. This work belongs to a particular historian moment, subsequent to the Turkish invasion in the second half of the XV century and fits perfectly with the reinforcement plan of the boundary walls, provided with eighteen towers (some of them are still visible). The building of this sturdy fortress took place in the moment of introduction of the new and sophisticated systems of artillery, making these new architectonical typologies necessary, as the building of walls with rounded off corners. The Castle of Nardò shows undeniable common elements in the Castle of Otranto and Corigliano, both for the planimetrical layout, both for some decorative elements. The actual façade, in an eclectic style, with the high keep and the crenellated curtain wall, has been realized at the beginning of the 20th century by the Personè, the barons of Nardò, who wanted to transform the fortress in a real noble residence, relying on the work of engineer Generoso De Maglie. Since 1934, it has been the Town Hall.
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