The Palazzo Prinetti is a palace located in the town of

Merate Merate ( Brianzöö: ) is a municipality of 14,872 inhabitants in the province of Lecco, in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It is served by Cernusco-Merate railway station. History The name ''Melatum'' appeared for the first time in ...

, in the

Province of Lecco The Province of Lecco ( it, provincia di Lecco; Lecchese: ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecco. As of 2017, the province had a population of 337,211 on a surface of divided into ...

, in the

Region of Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...

, Italy. The palace, also known as ''Castello di Merate'' was built initially by Archbishop Ariberto d'Intimiano as a moated castle, but destroyed in 1275 during the civil wars involving

Visconti Visconti is a surname which may refer to: Italian noble families * Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447 ** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan * Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia from ...

and Della Torre. The castle was inherited by the Monastery of San Dionigi of Milan. In the 1700s, the present palace was built by the abbot Ercole Visconti. A sober urban facade (1740) and walls of brick were intended to be flanked by four towers, but only one was built. The imposing tower was later topped with ''Neo-renaissance'' style loggia. By 1810, the palace was bought by the Prinetti family.

Giulio Prinetti Giulio Nicolò Marchese Prinetti (6 June 1851 – 9 June 1908) was an Italian businessman and politician from Milan. He was the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs in Giuseppe Zanardelli's period between 1901 and 1903, and signed the Triple Al ...

, twice Minister of the Kingdom of Italy, modified the structure adding painted wooden ceilings. The site contains an 18th-century chapel-church dedicated to St Dionigi. In 1946, the palace was acquired by the parish, and is now mostly used for meetings and concerts.Pro Loco Merate
website, information on palace.

References

Prinetti {{Commons category, Palazzo Prinetti (Merate), Palazzo Prinetti, Merate