A fascinating model of sobriety
Built around the mid-15th century, the Palace is among the most fascinating examples of 15th-century Gothic-Catalan civil architecture in Alghero. Pedro Ferrer, Marquis of Bonvehi, had commissioned its construction after the defeat inflicted on Nicolò Doria in 1436. His descendant and namesake Pedro hosted Charles V in this same palace, and together with other prominent figures, carried the taffeta brocade palio in the procession that took place through the streets of the city. Subsequently, the building became the property of the Marquis d'Albis family, Manca Guiso, and the De Arcayne family, thus acquiring the alternative names of Casa d'Albis and Palazzo Arcayne.
The palace was built with squared blocks of sandstone from the quarries of Alghero but, in some parts, a local limestone from Girona can be recognised, called marbre blau due to its bluish marble appearance.
The façade of the building, which overlooks Piazza Civica, consists of three superimposed levels. On the ground floor we find the dovelles entrance, with the sandstone ashlars arranged in a radial pattern.
On the upper level there are four mullioned windows carved according to a coronelles pattern, with round arches and small columns.
At the two ends, aligned with the mullioned windows, there are two rounded single-lancet windows with an inflected arch on decorated capitals and small honeycomb columns. The passage to the top level is marked by a string course. From the adovellado doorway, the open patio was accessed via a large barrel-vaulted entrance hall. A secondary spiral staircase, removed in the 20th century, led to the service mezzanine, reserved for servants.
The doorway, the windows and the symmetry of the building are reminiscent of the Palau de la Generalitat in Perpignan and the palace of Joan Francesc de Pròxita in Valencia.