Palazzo Marchesale

Palazzo Marchesale preserves a millennia-spanning history, shaped by successive construction phases that transformed it from a defensive tower protecting the small adjoining village into the elegant noble residence of the Venusio Marquises in the 18th century.

Analysis of the various masonry types incorporated into the building allows its origins to be traced at least to the Norman period, when Ugo da Frassineto, the first Dominus of Turi and Frassineto, had the first nucleus of the castellum constructed between the late 11th and early 12th centuries. This was built around a pre-existing Byzantine or Lombard tower situated at the highest point of the settlement, used as a lookout and protective structure for the emerging village. Excavations later revealed pottery fragments dating back to the Byzantine era.

With the arrival of the Aragonese in the Kingdom of Naples and the Moles Baronial family in Turi in 1546, the castle began its transformation from fortress to noble palace. The castle was expanded to meet the administrative needs of the new feudal lords, with the ground floor and basement housing the feudal administrative offices, the Governor’s seat, detention cells, stables, and carriage houses, while the first floor was designed for sumptuous reception rooms lavishly decorated and furnished.

Following the final sale of the fief, in 1752 the property passed to the Venusio family of Matera, wealthy bankers, who undertook major expansions of the palace. This included the opening of a new city gate, still visible today, known as Portanova, and extensive renovations that erased many traces of the past. The palace was further refined according to 18th-century artistic and architectural tastes, with the addition of windows and large arched windows with curved pediments, wide and long balconies with elaborate wrought-iron railings, and richly decorated interiors on the main floor.