Bosa, Palace of Don Carlo

Corso Vittorio Emanuele II - called by the Bosani “knows flat” - runs through the urban center, damming the intricate road of 'Cortes' and 'Cascios' of the medieval town, on the route parallel to the Temo river. It is one of the few results of the “Plan d'ornato” wanted by the city administration and designed between 1864 and 1867 by engineer Pietro Cadolini. Based on the alignment of the facades of the buildings and the “straightening” of the road, the intervention had an important phase in the demolition of the Maddalena church (1870) and the simultaneous opening of the Constitution Square, adorned a few years later (1881-82) with the vulcanite and marble fountain, the point of arrival of the nineteenth-century aqueduct, to which Don Carlo's palace forms the backdrop.
The impressive building owned by the wealthy owner Don Carlo Passino was built in the second half of the nineteenth century for the family that perished in the Messina earthquake of 1908.
The building, built on four levels but always remained unfinished, on the one hand is linked to stylistic features of the previous century, on the other hand, it adapts to the local tradition of red volcanite in its architectural details.
The main façade is vertically punctuated by flat corner pilasters and two pilasters that underline the main entrance and continue to the top. Two projecting cornices divide the façade horizontally, defining two orders, each consisting of two floors. The inflected and broken line exhibitions on the second floor balconies stand out, with annoyance that repeats the form below, finished with a shelf.
The building is characterized above all by the unique bichromy of the basal order, accentuated by the alternation of bands of vulcanite with bands of light plaster of equal thickness, yet another eclectic revival of a language of Romanesque descent.

Bibliography of
S. Naitza, Architecture from the late 17th century to purist classicism. Nuoro, Ilisso, 1992, sheet 48;
A. Mastino-G. Cuccu-A. Cuccu, 101 greetings from Bosa, Nuoro, Poliedro, 2004.