Grand Ducal Palace

Grand Ducal Palace (Palazzo Granducale) is a building in Livorno, seat of the province of the same name and located in the central square of the Town Hall.

The Grand Ducal Palace was built starting from 1605 by the will of the Grand Duke Ferdinando I de 'Medici and on a project by Antonio Cantagallina.

The building, which should have housed part of the grand-ducal court, was built near the Porticciolo dei Genovesi, a small dock dug, according to tradition, in the 15th century to the north of the town.

Subsequently, in 1629, the building was enlarged to a design by Giovan Battista Santi, already author of the project of the New Venice, who endowed it with a portico along the Piazza d'Armi and made it the residence of the sovereigns visiting Livorno.

Napoleon Bonaparte also stayed here for a few days during the French invasion of 1796: at the time the building was transformed into a barracks and robbed of some of its furnishings.

Map: Grand Ducal Palace