A Villa Crotta de' Manzoni con Luca De' Manzoni Matteucci

Luca De' Manzoni Matteucci will accompany guests on a visit to Palazzo Crotta-De’ Manzoni, one of the northernmost Venetian villas set against the backdrop of the Agordine Dolomites.

Born from the evolution of a large building complex located in the heart of Agordo, the palace is the result of centuries of extensions and transformations.

Its peculiarity lies in combining the solemnity of a noble residence with the character of a country house: it presents a more formal face towards the square, while on the garden side it opens up to a more intimate and secluded dimension. Its geographical location among the Alps makes it one of the most significant points of penetration to the north of the civilization of Venetian villas.

This characteristic was also captured by Dino Buzzati, who described it as "the last wave of the Serene Republic that crashes and dies at the foot of the majestic rocky cathedrals of the North."

The Cordevole valley indeed constituted an important corridor connecting to the northern territories and a place for exchanges with the regions once ruled by the Prince Bishops of Bressanone and Trento and, later, by the Habsburg Empire.

As evidence of this connection, in 1820 the Emperor of Austria conferred a noble title to the De’ Manzoni family in recognition of the services and economic support provided during the wartime.

The origins of the palace date back to the union, promoted by Francesco Crotta, of the properties of the Pieroboni families, present on the site since 1365, and Paragatta, who built the central core of the villa in the second half of the sixteenth century.

The seventeenth-century expansions affected not only the new eastern wing but also the guest house and the portico located to the south.

From the eighteenth century belongs the representative wing facing the square, completed by the small central structure topped by sixteen poplars, traditionally called by the locals the "Mut del Grota."

In 1813 Giuseppe Manzoni purchased the palace from Pietro Crotta, transforming it into the summer residence of the family and a meeting place for artists and personalities of the time, including the painter Giuseppe Segusini.

He is responsible for the restructuring of the main staircase and the creation of the so-called Pica, an elegant pavilion-belvedere located at the end of the garden and designed according to the taste of romantic neo-Gothic style.

The interiors preserve works of significant value, including frescoes by Pietro Paoletti and a precious altarpiece attributed to the school of Girolamo Frigimelica, kept in the chapel of the palace.

Event by reservation, by writing an email to visits@tizianovecellio.it.