Palazzo Manzoni

Italiano

Palazzo Manzoni is a historic building in Barzio, for centuries the most prestigious in the Valsassina village. The late 17th-century palace was the first residence of the Manzoni, a noble family that arrived in the late 16th century from the neighboring Taleggio Valley, from which the famous writer Alessandro descended. Subsequently, in the 19th and 20th centuries, the palace belonged to the Baruffaldi family, originally from Cortenova. Since 1982, Palazzo Manzoni has been owned by the Municipality of Barzio, home to the town hall and the municipal library. According to a plaque at the entrance, Palazzo Manzoni has been a national monument since 1930.

The building is hidden in the historic center of Barzio in the narrow Via Alessandro Manzoni, at number 12, a few meters away from Piazza Garibaldi. The two-story building occupies a small square surface, about 20 meters per side, with a internal courtyard. The one-story high facade of the building is painted pale pink, and is entered through a wooden door after climbing two steps.[^] Historical evidence is a medallion of Tranquillo Baruffaldi, descendant of the family that owned the building, a volunteer among the Thousand in Piazza Garibaldi Giuseppe Garibaldi's famous expedition. Furthermore, Via Baruffaldi is the continuation of Via Manzoni which runs alongside the building.

History

The palace was inhabited at the end of the 16th century by the founder of the Manzoni family, Giacomo Maria, who married Elisabetta Caseri, with whom he had three sons: Giovanni Angelo, Pasino, and Pompeo. The estate passed to Pasino's eldest son, Giacomo Maria, born in Barzio on January 11, 1576, who moved to Caleotto di Lecco, as attested by a document from 1612.[^] The history of Palazzo Manzoni is intertwined with the more famous Villa Manzoni in Caleotto, built in 1621, where the family heirs also lived. Giacomo Maria's grandson was Pietro Antonio, grandfather of Pietro, the father of the author of The Betrothed. In 1798, Pietro Antonio definitively abandoned Palazzo Manzoni di Barzio,[^] which was sold to the Rossi family. Alessandro Manzoni, born in 1785, never lived in the palace, nor went to Barzio. In a short time, in the early nineteenth century, the Baruffaldi family from Cortenova took over, who maintained it for almost two centuries. The first owner was Alfonso Baruffaldi with his wife Caterina Mazzini.[^] At the time of the Unification of Italy, one of the rooms was rented to house the first municipal seat of Barzio. In 1973, the structure was sold to the parish, which established a library; the Municipality of Barzio took it over in 1982. After the restoration by the architect Bruno Bianchi, the first floor became the seat of the town hall.

Architecture

The main entrance is through a wooden door, surrounded by a valuable eighteenth-century stone portal,[^] on the narrow street there are two steps, in front there is a parking lot for four cars. On the façade, the medallion of Tranquillo Baruffaldi stands out against a grey background, with the plaque on the right: A Tranquillo Baruffaldi campione della virtù valsassinese tra i Mille I mentori convalligiani qui nella casa ov'egli nacque XX Settembre MCMVIII;[^] in English, To Tranquillo Baruffaldi, champion of Valsassina virtue among the Thousand The mentors of the valleys here in the house where he was born, XX September MCMVIII. To the right of the wooden door, under the plaque of the civic number 12, two golden plates have been installed Casa Comunale and Biblioteca Comunale,[^] that is Town Hall and Municipal Library. On the left, another one, in metallic grey: Palazzo di Pasino Manzoni. Prima fra le residenze dei Manzoni fu abitato negli ultimi anni del Cinquecento dal capostipite Giacomo e rimase alla discendenza del figlio Pasino (da cui discenderà Alessandro Manzoni) Dal 1930 l'edificio è Monumento Nazionale — Palazzo di Pasino Manzoni. The first of the Manzoni residences, it was inhabited in the late sixteenth century by the founder Giacomo and passed to the descendants of his son Pasino (from whom Alessandro Manzoni descended). Since 1930, the building has been a National Monument —, the municipal coat of arms and Comune di Barzio. Although every newspaper article about Palazzo Manzoni in Barzio reports this news, none mentions the royal decree; it is at least remarkable that Palazzo Manzoni in the mountain village became a national monument before the more prestigious Villa Manzoni in Lecco, which became a national monument in 1940.

The internal courtyard has a wall that separates the building from Via Scandella, where there is a secondary entrance. In front, the building has two floors; on the left, a cross-vaulted portico on pillars where there are rooms. Entering from the main entrance, immediately on the left is the most valuable room, some windows open onto the street. The Civic Hall was decorated in the nineteenth century on the orders of the Baruffaldi family, with a vaulted ceiling decorated with frescoes in late Baroque style, painted doors and the coat of arms engraved in the seventeenth-century marble fireplace. This room, which until the mid-twentieth century contained frescoes by Manzoni, is used by the Municipality for institutional events, such as the awarding of merits,[^] and cultural meetings of a certain importance. The other rooms on the ground floor, both under and outside the portico, host local associations. In the portico there is the Manzonian coat of arms and a well with a classical tympanum.[^]

Up a staircase, the Comune di Barzio[^] offices are located on the first floor, telephone 0341 996125, e-mail: info@comune.barzio.lc.it, with three elegantly painted ceilings from different periods. On the second floor, to the left, is the municipal library, while to the right is a large room with windows overlooking the courtyard. At the rear of this top floor is a large garden, considering the size of the building, which is used as a reading area. From the outside, its presence can be perceived above the stone wall of Via Scandella.

Library

The enterprising spirit of Don Alfredo Comi, the parish priest of the town when Palazzo Manzoni passed from the Baruffaldi family to the parish in 1973, quickly provided Barzio with a library, which opened in 1975 on the ground floor of the building. Don Alfredo collected books and documents by Alessandro Manzoni, of whom he was a passionate admirer. The collection includes rare first editions of The Betrothed, both the so-called twenty-seventh edition (from 1827) and the final draft, the forty-year edition, from 1840. The priest continued this activity for more than twenty years. In 2006, he donated everything to the Barzio library, which created a Manzonian collection; it consists of more than 1300 volumes.[^] Since 1994, the beautiful library has been located on the second and top floor of the building, composed of four rooms. More recently, the library has become an institution capable of enlivening culture, promoting and organizing regular events.

Cultural events

The seventeenth-century palace, which once belonged to the Manzoni family and which housed the municipal administration several times over the centuries, is today a suitable place for hosting cultural events and entertaining people. In summer, it is preferable to be outdoors, and so the natural venue is the courtyard; the speaker usually leads the evening in the portico with a crossroads on pillars, where there is the Manzoni coat of arms and the well. I remember the evening in the summer of 2023 "Dante's Stars. Astronomy in the Divine Comedy"[^] by the science popularizer and programming manager of the Lecco Planetarium, Loris Lazzati, who interpreted some of the numerous astronomical references present in the poem based on scientific knowledge of the position of the stars. There was a nice initiative, which was repeated every year on the first Saturday morning of September, the last day of the Barzio summer events, of bringing people together with a show of caviadini or cabiadini,[^] the famous biscuit of the valley. The practical demonstration of cutting the dough took place in the portico,[^] while the tastings of the varieties from the different local bakeries were on the top floor of the building, which opens onto a garden.

References

1. Mauro Vezzoli (29 January 2013- ). "Palazzo Manzoni". [Google Photos album]. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
2. "Giacomo Maria Manzoni". Wikipedia: L'enciclopedia libera. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
3. "Palazzo Manzoni (Barzio)". Wikipedia: L'enciclopedia libera. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
4. Oriani, Federico (July 2015). "Via Alessandro Manzoni.". In 2 - Viabilità urbana barziese [2 - Urban roads of Barzio]. Le strade di Barzio, trasformazioni e denominazioni tra Sette e Novecento [The streets of Barzio, transformations and denominations between Eighteenth and Twentieth Century] [PDF File] (in Italian). Comune di Barzio. pp. 40-41. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
5. "Manzoni's Palace in Barzio". Montagne Lago di Como. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
6. Mauro Vezzoli (6 September 2025). Medallion to Tranquillo Baruffaldi on the façade of Palazzo Manzoni. To Tranquillo Baruffaldi, champion of Valsassina virtue among the Thousand The mentors of the valleys here in the house where he was born, XX September MCMVIII. The Baruffaldi family owned the building in the 19th century until 1972, when it was sold to the parish of Barzio. I'm photographing because I just published Palazzo Manzoni on Blogger.". In Centro storico di Barzio, Estate, Palazzo Manzoni and Via Alessandro Manzoni. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
7. Mauro Vezzoli (27 August 2013). "The two golden plaques at Via Alessandro Manzoni 12, the Town Hall and the Municipal Library.". In In giro per Barzio and Via Alessandro Manzoni. [Flickr photo]. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
8. Redazione (6 January 2025). "Barzio. Consegnate le benemerenze a Paola Pozzoni e Gianfranco Polvara [Barzio. Honorary awards presented to Paola Pozzoni and Gianfranco Polvara.]". Valsassina News. (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
9. Franchi, Rosalba (May 2023). "Manzoni, Lecco e la Valsassina". Vie storiche. (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
10. "Comune di Barzio". www.comune.barzio.lc.it. (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
11. (29 September 2024). "BARZIO – PALAZZO MANZONI". Rotary Meda. (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
12. RedBar (6 August 2023). "Barzio, dieci giorni di eventi: si inizia domani con le “Stelle di Dante” [Barzio, ten days of events: starting tomorrow with the "Stars of Dante"]". Lecco Notizie. (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
13. (29 August 2017). "Barzio e i caviadini, sabato la rassegna dei biscotti tradizionali. Dimostrazioni e assaggi [Barzio and the caviadini, a traditional biscuit festival on Saturday. Demonstrations and tastings]". Valsassina News. (in Italian). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
14. Mauro Vezzoli (1 September 2018). Marta Gianola of Primaluna and Antonio Passoni of the famous Barzio pastry shop teach how to make cabiadini in the Town Hall. Numerous vacationers and tourists listen and watch attentively, among them there is also my mother who is looking at me.". In Centro storico di Barzio, Estate, Palazzo Manzoni and Via Alessandro Manzoni. [Google Photos photo]. Retrieved 19 July 2025.