Gravisi-Barbabianca Palace - Facade

Facade

The Gravisi-Barbabianca is one of the most important of Koper's Baroque buildings, obtaining its present form after major renovations in 1710. It illustrates a stage in the evolution of the palaces of the town from Romanticism to 19th century architecture. The palace is a three-story building with a symmetrical facade. The windows on the ground floor are relatively small and high. On the floor above they are larger and more ornate, and on the floor above that they are less decorated.

The central axis of the facade rises one floor higher than the two wings, capped by a tympanum supported by volutes. The main ground floor entrance in the center section is a carved stone portal that opens into a spacious atrium, which in turn opens onto the garden. There is a richly decorated balcony above the portal, with triple arch lancet windows. A more modest version of the balcony and the triple arched windows is repeated on the floor above. Above these the facade is decorated with carved dragons over the two side windows and a representation of the family crest on the tympanum over the taller central window.