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Through the past centuries, Palazzo Salis has always been a property of Counts Sertoli Salis.
It develops on a structure that has a late XVI century facade, flanked by two towers, with a central baroque portal built on Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola’s design.

The entrance portico leads to the evocative “Italian” garden in the courtyard, probably one of the most significant in Lombardy, and certainly the best known in Valtellina.

The garden appears on several ancient plans of the building, including an original one dating back to 1813. This garden is by no means that common in the alpine environment; in fact, it is quite a rarity and one of its kind. In the whole area of Valtellina, there are only two, and Palazzo Salis features the largest and the most famous. A team of gardeners painstakingly take care of the boxwood hedge on a regular basis, managing the four sets of mazes, as well as the rose collection and several fruit trees like the majestic and very ancient Lebanon cedar – this tree has been there for over two centuries.

Inside the palace, there is a museum exhibiting ten beautifully decorated and frescoed rooms – all recently restored – including the so-called “Saloncello”: splendidly frescoed space used for political meetings in the XVII and XVIII centuries. The Baroque family church, dedicated to San Carlo Borromeo, it’s also worth mentioning.

All the rooms in the museum overlook the ancient XVI century courtyard called “the rustic court”, or “horse court”. The museum can be accessed from the imposing grand staircase and going through the Hall of Honor, which features a magnificently frescoed ceiling with pictorial decorations.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)