Frammenti e memorie. Permanenze architettoniche quattrocentesche in case e dimore signorili di Calabria

The disastrous natural events that have affected Calabria and the scarce attention paid in the past to the historical heritage and collective cultural identity have led to the loss of many architectural testimonies and the fragmentation of archival documentation. Residential construction was particularly affected and further fragmented due to urban transformations – especially those started at the end of the 19th century, which sacrificed urban fabric and historical buildings, in the name of “rational” principles motivated by the need to protect public health – and for the numerous reuse interventions aimed at satisfying the changed housing needs, improving comfort and functionality. While in Calabria today there are rare examples of residences still characterized by a precise historical identity, a number of individual architectural elements still remain – portals, windows, cantonal – to testify the cultural and artistic vitality of the region between the 15th and 16th century and close relations with the Crown of Aragon. Forms and languages are placed within Catalan cultural models, filtered by local tradition and conveyed by a qualified clientele, made up of the great feudal lords – Ruffo, the Sanseverino, Sersale – as well as religious orders, and which also included the movement of many architects and workers from the main cities, which were the driving force behind the already mentioned cultural and artistic vitality. Just to mention a few examples, in Cosenza alone there are portals such as those of Casa Falvo, which incorporates Catalan models of the early fifteenth century, or the Sersale and Giannuzzi Savelli palaces, in which the framed lowered arch was inspired by Neapolitan architecture. This is also the case in the portal of the Monastery of the Virgins, framed by a band of diamond-tipped bosses or in the façade with obvious classical references in the Galeazzo di Tarsia palace, also in Cosenza.