On the northern end of the Parco della Favorita is one of Palermo's strangest buildings: a large and fully decorated Chinese palace. Built in 1799 for King Ferdinand III, during the height of the European craze for all things Oriental, the palace is jarringly out-of-place in the Sicilian capital.
The palace consists of three floors, each decorated with Chinese patterns, writing, or frescoes of pastoral Chinese life. Although the focus was Chinese, there are Italian elements as well; one room is done entirely in the style of Pompeii, painted in the deep red identified with the destroyed city.
(via Palermo For 91 Days)
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