Palazzo Lanfranchi

Palazzo Lanfranchi is a beautiful historic building in Matera and represents the most important expression of seventeenth-century architecture in the city.Originally used as a seminary, Palazzo Lanfranchi was built in 1668 at the behest of Bishop Vincenzo Lanfranchi, according to Tridentine dictates. The construction project of the building was entrusted to the friar Francesco da Copertino who, in 1672, completed the complex also incorporating pre-existing structures, still today an integral part of the scenographic facade of the building.Palazzo Lanfranchi today houses the National Museum of Medieval and Modern Art of Basilicata, inaugurated in 2003. Together with the Ridola Museum, it is one of the branches of the National Museum of Matera.