History
Erected in the 17th century by the Carafa family, it belonged to Tiberio Carafa’s real estate holdings, who set up a wildlife garden with ferocious beasts, as narrated by Carlo Celano; he also organised hunting parties in the palace park.
In the 19th century, it was reconstructed, with the façade rebuilt between 1832 and 1835 by engineer Francesco Saverio Ferrari, while the courtyard, staircase and second floor were rebuilt by Guglielmo Bechi on commission from Prince Ruffo della Scaletta.
The staircase is the architectural highlight: with an octagonal plan and terminal cupola, it is decorated with neoclassical stuccoes and embellished with marble statues. The atrium, on the other hand, has a barrel-vaulted roof supported by columns and pillars and is inspired in its spatial configuration by the famous Borromini perspective of Palazzo Spada.
The building housed the headquarters of the Goethe Institut until 2012. In 2022, the former premises of the Goethe Institut were purchased by the Association of Builders of the Province of Naples.