Palazzo Corvaja (Corvaja Palace), Taormina

Corvaja Palace (Palazzo Corvaja) is found in Abbey Square (Piazza Badia), close to the Corso Umberto and the Church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The original part of the palace is the cubical tower bastion. It was built in the 10th century as a defense by the Arab conquerors of the erstwhile Byzantine town.

It was in the 13th and 14th centuries that the fortified palace acquired its unique mixture of styles. The Tower is Arabic with Catalan Gothic lancet windows in groups of twos and threes divided by columns. The 15th-century Parliamentary Hall is Norman. The noble Corvaja family owned the building from the mid-1600s until 1945.

There is an entrance portal on the southwest side with a staircase that goes from the courtyard to the first floor. On the first floor landing are three Siracusa stone panels in relief. They are the Creation of Eve, Original Sin, and the Expulsion from Paradise.

In the Parliamentary Hall are the frescoes Daniel in the Lions' Den, Mother of the Maccabees, Ahasuerus, and Esther, and The Flight into Egypt. By 1945 the palace was in a pitiful state of disrepair. The town dispossessed the building, and Neapolitan architect Armando Dillon completely restored it, finishing in 1948.

Nowadays, Corvaja Palace is the home of the Museum of Folk Art and Traditions (Museo di Arte e Tradizioni Popolari) and the town's tourist office. The museum features a collection of puppets and folk art.