THE OLD TOWN OF TIRANO AND ITS PALACES
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Impossible to think of passing through Tirano without visiting the beautiful old town which includes many ancient buildings and palaces!
The historic center is accessed from the Quadrio square after crossing the iron bridge over the Adda. The ancient village of Tirano was once surrounded by high walls built by Ludovico il Moro in 1487. Today they have almost disappeared and only the few parts still preserved can be seen. There are three gates of access to the old town that still exist, among these the best preserved is the one called Poschiavina Gate, on which fresco decorations dating back to the sixteenth century are still visible; among the various coats of arms you can glimpse the figure of Justice holding the scales, while a painting depicting the Homo salvadego has unfortunately been lost. This gate is so called because through the only bridge over the Adda in the area, it connected Tirano with the Poschiavo valley.
The Pretorio Palace, the ancient headquarters of the Grisons podestà, forms a single body with Poschiavina Gate; the large portal and the coats of arms frescoed in the entrance hall are valuable on this building.
Continuing, you reach Cavour Square, overlooked by Marinoni Palace, now the headquarters of the Town Hall of Tirano, once a convent of the Augustinians who were present in Tirano from 1400 to 1600. Visiting Marinoni Palace, we cannot fail to admire the internal portico, formerly the cloister of the convent, the courtyard with an ancient basin in the center and the sixteenth-century portal on the south side. Attached to Marinoni Palace there is the church of Santa Teresa.
In the center of Cavour Square there is a fountain with a statue symbolizing the History, nicknamed “La Maria Luisa” by the people of Tirano.
If we continue our journey to discover the history of Tirano, we encounter Salis Palace, probably the most important Tirano residence, built in the early 1600s, which now houses a museum that collects and displays ancient documents, furniture and paintings. The building also has an internal Italian garden of rare beauty!
Salis Palace is accessed through the frescoed main courtyard, called the Corte della meridiana, and climbing an imposing staircase. On the main floor there are the most prestigious rooms: the Party Hall and the Saloncello, with magnificently frescoed ceilings in the eighteenth century. The cellars and the icebox which, once filled with snow, were used to store food are certainly worth a visit.
Finally, we suggest visiting Merizzi Palace, a building built in the late 1600s by the Merizzi’s by merging two pre-existing sixteenth-century buildings and giving a new look to the facade facing the street and the two access portals. Particularly interesting are the facades towards the internal courtyard, with windows framed by elegant stucco decorations. Porticoes and loggias with the coats of arms of the women who married the Merizzi overlook the courtyard.