📍 Where it is located
The Palazzo Vertemate Franchi is located in Prosto di Piuro, a few kilometers from Chiavenna, in Valchiavenna (province of Sondrio). The palace is easily reachable by car via the SS36 and is situated in a secluded position, surrounded by greenery, away from traffic.
🏛️ A palace that has made history
The palace was built in the second half of the 1500s by the brothers Guglielmo and Luigi Vertemate Franchi, one of the most important families in Piuro. It is one of the few buildings that survived the landslide of 1618 that destroyed the entire village. Today it is one of the best examples of Lombard Renaissance villa and is managed by the Municipality of Chiavenna.
🌳 A complete agricultural complex
The palace is not only a noble residence but a true agricultural complex. Around the main building, you can find:
- an Italian garden with a fish pond
- an orchard
- a vineyard for the Vertemate passito
- a chestnut grove
- a vegetable garden
- rustic buildings such as stables, a wine press, an icehouse, and cellars
Until 1985, the palace was inhabited and also used for agricultural production. Today, these spaces are open for visits and offer a concrete glimpse of rural life at that time.
🎨 What to see inside
The palace is well preserved. Some rooms seem to have remained untouched for centuries. Inside you can visit:
- rooms frescoed with themes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses
- rooms with wooden stües (typical wooden paneling)
- a room with a zodiac ceiling
- the room of the caryatids
- the bishop's chamber
- a collection with over 80 paintings, including two canvases depicting Piuro before and after the landslide
The furniture is original or period. There are majolica stoves, fireplaces, coffered ceilings, terracotta and wooden floors, frescoes everywhere.
🎟️ Hours, tickets, and contacts
- 🕒 Opening: from March to early November (closed on non-holiday Wednesdays)
- 🕘 Guided tour times: 10:00, 11:00, 14:30, 15:30, 16:30
- 🎫 Full ticket: 8 €
- 🎫 Reduced: 6 € (students, over 60, FAI/TCI members)
- 👶 Free: children under 6 years, disabled persons with a companion, local school groups
Reservation recommended, mandatory for groups larger than 15 people.
📍 Address: Via del Palazzo Vertemate, 35 – Prosto di Piuro (SO)
📞 Tel: +39 0343 37485
📧 Email: consorzioturistico@valchiavenna.com
🌐 Website: www.palazzovertemate.it
🧭 How to get there
- 🚗 From Chiavenna: 5 minutes by car
- 🚶 On foot: 30 minutes from the center of Chiavenna, easy walk
- 🅿️ Parking available on site
Why visit it
The Palazzo Vertemate Franchi is a place that is truly worth visiting: for the beauty of the palace, for the gardens, for the history, and for the landscape that surrounds it. It is a corner of Valtellina where time has truly stood still, but in a concrete way, without too many words. You just have to step inside to understand.
