Palazzo dell’Acquedotto Pugliese
Behind a Puglian neo-Romanesque front, Duilio Cambellotti turned the offices of a water company into a hymn to water.
At a glance
The Palazzo dell’Acquedotto Pugliese is the monumental headquarters of the Apulian aqueduct, built in Bari between 1927 and 1932 to a design by Cesare Vittorio Brunetti. Its plain Puglian neo-Romanesque exterior hides a late-Liberty interior conceived as a single artwork by Duilio Cambellotti, where every surface returns to the theme of water.
Key facts
- Built: 1927–1932
- Architect: Cesare Vittorio Brunetti
- Interiors: Duilio Cambellotti (late Liberty / Art Nouveau)
- Exterior: Puglian neo-Romanesque
- Current use: Headquarters of Acquedotto Pugliese S.p.A. + museum
- Coordinates: 41.1234, 16.8741 — Google Maps
History
The Apulian Aqueduct, one of the largest in Europe, raised this headquarters in Bari between 1927 and 1932 to the design of Cesare Vittorio Brunetti. For the interiors the company called Duilio Cambellotti, one of the leading figures of Italian Liberty and decorative art.
Cambellotti conceived the public rooms as a unified decorative cycle on the theme of water — frescoes, mosaic and stone floors, and roughly 140 original furnishings inlaid in wood and mother-of-pearl, designed down to the smallest detail.
What you see
The atrium and decorated halls are the heart of the building: Cambellotti’s water imagery runs through allegorical figures, inlaid furniture and patterned floors in a late-Liberty key found nowhere else in the South on this scale.
Outside, the building speaks a sober Puglian neo-Romanesque, with stone surfaces and reliefs that anchor it to the regional tradition rather than to the new currents within.
Practical information
- Working headquarters of Acquedotto Pugliese; the decorated halls and museum are visited on guided openings.
- Check the company’s cultural calendar for access to the Cambellotti rooms.
- Central location, easy to combine with the old port.
Getting there
The palace stands in central Bari, in the Murat quarter a short walk from Bari Centrale station and the seafront.
Nearby
- Teatro Margherita on the old port
- Teatro Petruzzelli
- Bari Vecchia, the old town
Sources
- Wikipedia, “Palazzo dell’Acquedotto Pugliese (Bari)”
- Acquedotto Pugliese S.p.A.
- Studies on Duilio Cambellotti
Find it on the map
See this place and what’s around it →📷 Diventa un fotografo di Cultural Heritage Online
Condividi le tue foto dei luoghi: restano pubblicate con la tua firma come autore. Più vengono viste, più ti fai conoscere — e presto un concorso premierà le foto più apprezzate.
Accedi o registrati gratis per aggiungere una foto