# Palazzo Chiaramonte-Steri

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Content updated: 2026-06-22

Palazzo Chiaramonte-Steri rises in Palermo as a Gothic palace with Arab and Norman details behind a plain façade. Built in 1307 by the powerful Chiaramonte family, it first served as their residence and later became a seat for Aragonese kings and viceroys.

The palace took a darker role in the seventeenth century, when it housed the Spanish Inquisition for almost two centuries. Its prison cells now form part of a museum, preserving poems, sonnets, graffiti, and drawings made by prisoners during confinement. A separate prison building added between 1603 and 1605 contained eight ground-floor cells and six upstairs, while restoration in 2005 uncovered ten more cells with surviving marks.

The Hall of the Barons holds a wooden ceiling covered with murals, offering a striking contrast to the prison walls. Some prisoners used coal or even blood to leave behind images of fear, anger, and faith.

- City: [Palermo](https://mytuur.com/en/city/palermo/)

## Photos

- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_PalazzoChiaramonteSteri_68c17c44e7953b13370181ad_0.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Palermo-Palazzo-Chiaramonte-bjs.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_PalazzoChiaramonteSteri_68c17c44e7953b13370181ad_1.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Palermo-Palazzo-Chiaramonte-bjs2007-01.jpg)
- ![](https://mytuur-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/image_PalazzoChiaramonteSteri_68c17c44e7953b13370181ad_2.jpg) — [Image: wikimedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Palazzo_steri7.jpg)

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