The palace was built in the second half of the 16th century by the Granafei family, originally from Constantinople, from which they fled following its conquest by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The family first took refuge in Oria, and then moved to Brindisi in 1508.
A few centuries later, in 1862, the family's heirs moved permanently to nearby Mesagne, and the palace was sold to an important family from Abruzzo, the Nervegna family.
In 1880, the palace had 60 rooms, equally distributed between the ground, first and second floors, and a garden. In 1930, the municipality took it over and it was the seat of the court until 1976. Since 2008, the building has been open to the public, becoming an important cultural venue. Some of its rooms house the offices of the city's municipal administration.