Palazzo Bernardini

Palazzo Bernardini

The Palazzo Bernardini is a Renaissance palace located on the Piazza Bernardini, diagonal from the church of San Benedetto in Gotella in central Lucca, region of Tuscany, Italy.

History[edit]

Erected starting 1512 for the Marchese Bernardini by the 16th-century architect Nicolao Civitali. The ground floor has rusticated stone face interrupted by doric stone pilasters. The piano nobile windows have wooden shutters.[1]

Among the curiosity of the palace is the missing stone on the ground floor facade above the third window from the left. A legend spun about the missing stone is that it is the pietra del diavolo (Devil's stone). Legends hold that this spot once held a wall with a painted icon of the Virgin Mary, and that a rock at this point, kept falling out. This was interpreted as a divine sign, and the block was omitted.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Guida di Lucca e dei luoghi più importanti del Ducato by marchese Antonio Mazzarosa, 1843, page 130.
  2. ^ http://www.luccamuraurbane.it/pietra_del_diavolo_palazzo_bernardini.php Lucca Mura Urbane]], website of the Walls of Lucca.

43°50′33″N 10°30′20″E / 43.842579°N 10.505628°E / 43.842579; 10.505628