Building Imperiali - Filotico

it passed to his son Federico. In 1827 it was purchased by the Filotico family. The Filotico family is reported in the "Big Book of Manduria families" from the mid-16th century with the progenitor Giulio in the civil class. In the following generation, the Filoticos completed and furnished the palace, creating the internal decorations according to a style marked by the austerity of its architectural lines. In the mid-19th century, the famous Neapolitan writer Virginia Pulli, wife of Leonardo Filotico, entertainer of a famous literary salon in Naples, lived there. Also dating back to the same period was the construction, on the north façade of the atrium, of the large loggia resting on arches, with the function of connecting the staircase and the north-east wing. The middle part of the entrance hall on the ground floor, which originally had identical dimensions to those of the main hall above, with two pillars in the middle, was reduced in width to create closed rooms on both sides. The very high roof of the hall of honour, damaged according to some sources already by the Terra d'Otranto earthquake of 1743, but certainly still present in 1804, was dismantled in the first half of the 19th century, following the damage caused by a trumpet of air. Since then the very suggestive environment has been called the "open hall". The property has been the private residence of the Filotico family for two centuries, nine generations; following a division between heirs after the war, the external rooms on the ground floor, intended for commercial activities, partly passed to other owners, including Unicredit Banca and the Schiavoni-Daversa family. Subjected to protection restrictions as a "property of significant historical-artistic interest" since 1917, and officially called "Palazzo Imperiali-Filotico" in the decree issued by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage pursuant to Law 1089/1939, it is registered with the ADSI – Association of Italian Historic Houses – Puglia section. Recently (2015) the access portal, the entrance hall and the monumental staircase were subjected to conservative restoration.