Antico Stabilimento Balneare of Mondello

The Antico Stabilimento Balneare (Ancient Bathing Establishment) located in Mondello, a seaside borough north of Palermo, Sicily, is an Art Nouveau or Liberty-style building atop piers of the beach in the town.

The design of the present structure with colorful and fanciful decorations with turrets and spires was traditionally credited to Rudolf Stualker, a supposed Belgian or Austrian architect or engineer about whom nothing is known.

[1] The building stands upon cement pylons embedded in the bay and were among the earliest reinforced concrete artifacts to be made in Palermo.

The beachfront area of Mondello until the end of the 19th century was a malaria-afflicted swamp, with a seashore used by fishermen.

But during the Second World War, the facility was occupied first by the Italian, then the German, then the Allied army, and much of the furniture was extracted.