Tempio Munito Fortezza Mistica - Casa del Mutilato - Palermo

The Tempio Munito Fortezza Mistica was designed by the architect Giuseppe Spatisano who won a competition announced in 1936 in the middle of the fascist regime by the National Association of the Mutilated and War Invalids. It is also called " Casa del Mutilato" (House of the Mutilated).

It was inaugurated on May 21, 1939 and currently houses the criminal department of the Justice of the Peace , as well as other municipal offices. Some wings of the building, which are no longer in use, still contain the original furniture designed by Spatrisano.

Although it is an architectural masterpiece with frescoes , not everyone knows about its existence. The entrance in travertine marble bears the inscription "TEMPIO MUNITO FORTEZZA MISTICA" is a rare example from Palermo of great symmetry of architecture between the two wars, a real architectural sculpture of the early twentieth century.

Inside the sacred enclosure, on the marble columns, are engraved in bronze letters the names of the gold medals that fell during the war and of the places of the great battles fought by Italian soldiers during the First World War. These names flank two frescoes by Antonio Giuseppe Santagata that represent moments from the battles of the Great War, specifically on the left the waiting for the battle, while on the right the battle is depicted.

The heart of the sanctuary is represented by a bronze cross that dominates the stone altar of Carso on which "a votive lamp continually burns".

In the Assembly Hall, dedicated to Saro La Bella , founder of the Mutilated Society in Sicily, there is a large fresco, also by Santagata , depicting a group of infantrymen ready to attack on the banks of the Isonzo on the left side, while on the right they are some legionaries who conquered the empire. Above, Victory sits with a halo strand, surrounded by two angels armed with swords, also present in the ceiling joint.

Willem Vandenameele