MUSEO CASA DEL PODESTÀ

At the beginning of the 20th century, liberal politician Ugo Da Como decided to restore to its former splendour a 15th-century building that had once housed the representative of the Venetian Republic in Lonato del Garda. For the restoration, in neo-Gothic style, he entrusted the most authoritative Brescian architect of the time, Antonio Tagliaferri (1835-1909).

The residence is located in the middle of a large park that also includes the Visconti-Venetian Fortress and is part of a monumental complex established according to the testamentary dispositions of Da Como himself. In fact, the Senator destined his entire estate to the community, founding an institution that is still active today in the protection and enhancement of his cultural project, inspired by the humanistic ideal and the legacy of Giuseppe Zanardelli, of whom he was one of the most brilliant pupils.

What Da Como conceived as Citadel of Culture is located in the heart of the ancient village of Lonato del Garda, a centre still marked by important architectural emergencies that attest to its historical role in the Garda hinterland.

The Podestà House Museum houses two permanent collections. The first consists of the historical furniture distributed in the rooms according to the original arrangement, reflecting upper-class taste between the 19th and early 20th century. Three thousand objects - including archaeological finds, period furniture, paintings and sculptures - are divided between the representative rooms on the ground floor (lounges, dining rooms, studies) and the private rooms on the upper floor, once reserved for the Da Como couple.

The second, valuable collection is the Library, the result of decades of research in Italy's leading antiquarian bookshops. With more than 52,000 volumes - including illuminated manuscripts, manuscripts, autographs, incunabula, cinquecentine, illustrated books and rare editions - this house-library embodies the deepest soul of Ugo Da Como's cultural vision.