Palazzo Terzi

This palace was constructed to mark two weddings: the first, in 1631, of Marquis Luigi Terzi and the young Paola Roncalli, with the formation of the facade and the southern wing; a century later, the wedding of Marquis Gerolamo Terzi and Giulia Alessandri saw the expansion of the terrace below.
The lack of space in Bergamo’s upper town was a problem resolved through the construction of this and other buildings, which were intended to represent the most important local families. The building was constructed above a previously demolished area, salvaging one part thereof and successfully inserting itself into the grounds of Palazzo Recuperati. On the opposite side, at the edge of the precipice that defines the upper town, it is still possible to see the remains of the previous medieval buildings in the basement of the palazzo. The interior is a series of wonderful rooms, and there were a great many artists who worked on the palazzo, adding frescoes to it and ornating it with stuccowork and canvases: the Salottino degli Specchi (Mirror Room), the Sala Rossa (Red Room), the Sala del Tiepolo (Tiepolo Room), the Salone d’Onore (Hall of Honour) are all prized examples of 18th-century baroque.

The writer Hermann Hesse, who ended up by chance in Piazzetta Terzi in 1913, was so struck by it that he called it “one of the most beautiful corners of Italy, one of the many little surprises and joys that make travelling worthwhile”.