Palazzo Ducale

The Palazzo Ducale degli Acquaviva was erected during the century. XVI from the powerful noble family of the Dukes of Atri. Its construction probably began after 1484, the year in which Duke Andrea Matteo III d'Acquaviva bought the town from Francesca Cantelmo.

The structure is in brick with plastering on the north side. The south wall, on the other hand, is still in brick and the dovecotes and recycled materials used to build the lower part of the complex are clearly visible. In the same wall there is a window with wrought iron gratings, decorated with lily ornaments.

At the entrance to the complex in Piazza Garibaldi there is a modern structure, leaning against the original building; it is an apartment commissioned by Vincenzo Crescenzi in the 1960s. Previously there was a brick staircase which, from Piazza Garibaldi, allowed you to climb onto a small terrace.

It is unlikely that the members of the Acquaviva family ever lived there, except for sporadic stays or during the military campaigns that affected the Vibratian valley. The palace served as a residence for the castellans and the officers who governed the town and commanded the military garrison housed in the tower. The palatial structure, in fact, was built against the Torrione, with which it is in communication.

On the north wall there is a twentieth-century coat of arms of the Flajani marquises, but this family did not live there either. After the Second World War several counter-war families found accommodation here. The Palazzo was purchased by the remembered Vincenzo Crescenzi between the 1950s and 1960s, as the wrought iron initials on the entrance gate recall. Crescenzi is responsible for the last important restorations, all carried out in the 1960s. In addition to the construction of an apartment adjacent to the complex, which I have already mentioned, balconies were also built during these restorations. Crescenzi's project was to obtain apartments, given the fact that, at the time, the Palazzo Ducale and the Torrione were inhabited by a few families. During the restoration work, a wall and a brick base were leveled, formerly present in the open space in front of the complex (north side), which perhaps served as a stronghold in the Bourbon era.