The first historical mention of Jacopo Caldora‘s marquisal palace appears in a document cited by the seventeenth-century chronicler Nicola Alfonso Viti. This document refers to compensation granted by the lord of Vasto to the Augustinian friars in 1427 for the use of part of their garden to build a palace.
There is no evidence to suggest that Caldora reused any pre-existing structures. The palace was renowned for its beauty, with the celebrated humanist Flavio Biondo describing it as “magnificent“. Unfortunately, no detailed descriptions or images of the original building have survived.
Palazzo Caldora was set ablaze during the Ottoman assault in 1566 and was later rebuilt in Renaissance style toward the end of the century, incorporating remnants of the fifteenth-century structure.
Studies of the palace walls indicate that the original layout, height, and number of floors were similar to what we see today. However, the seaside-facing side has undergone significant alterations over the centuries, making its original appearance difficult to reconstruct.
Some elements of Jacopo Caldora’s palace came to light during the 1991 restoration of the complex. The most striking feature is the portal, with visible jambs and part of the archivolt carved in the Durazzo style—a late Gothic style introduced by the Anjou-Durazzo dynasty in the Kingdom of Naples following Charles III’s accession in 1382.
The southern façade of Palazzo Caldora, overlooking the garden, preserves the most notable traces of its original architecture. Here, you can admire a decorative frame featuring small trefoil arches supported by brackets, arranged across two levels. On the same façade, between two windows, there is a mullioned window in the flamboyant style—a refined expression of late Gothic design.
Also on this façade is a walled-up portal in Durazzo style, with a Gothic window positioned above it. These remarkable architectural details offer us a glimpse into the palace’s original splendor and help us understand why it was held in such high esteem during its time.
