Construction began in the spring of 1651 under the powerful Prince Luigi Guglielmo I Moncada, Count of the County of Nissa, based on a design by the Palermo architect Carlo d’Aprile. The palace was never completed due to its patron’s exile in Madrid following the failed anti-Spanish conspiracy of 1647. The façade, left without its upper cladding, still displays a daring sequence of carved brackets meant to support the immense balcony of the noble floor, while inside a large courtyard preserves lowered arches and bas-relief coats of arms. Turned into an orphanage in 1778 and later into the Court of Appeal in 1892, in the early 20th century Princess Maria Giovanna de Bauffremont added a liberty-style hall for theatrical performances. In 1938, the Trigona family converted it into a cinema-theatre, a function it still maintains today with the “Moncada” multiplex, reflecting its cultural vocation.
Partially acquired by the Municipality in the 1970s, the palace was restored to recover the original heights of its halls and, since 2010, has hosted the Civic Art Gallery. Here, two permanent exhibitions narrate the feudal saga of the Moncada family through portraits, documents, and historical maps, and celebrate the local sculptor Michele Tripisciano with plaster models and liberty bronzes. The halls also host temporary exhibitions of graphics, photography, and contemporary art: among the most recent, Collettiva A15 (September 2024), which gathered installations and paintings by young island artists, and The Dreams of Saint Joseph, with 52 works of contemporary sacred art, included in the “Vie dei Tesori” festival.
Visiting Palazzo Moncada means retracing four centuries of history between noble splendor, early cinema, and today’s creativity. Admission is free, open Monday to Saturday (9:30–13:00 and 17:00–20:00), and accessible to people with disabilities. From the noble floor’s windows, one can admire the honey-colored rooftops of the historic center, while the rough stones of the façade, illuminated at sunset, reveal the irony of a palace “suspended” between a dream of power and cultural regeneration—today the beating heart of Caltanissetta’s artistic scene.