Bergamo

Palazzo Frizzoni is a building built by Vantini between 1836 and 1840 for the Frizzoni family. In 1927 Enrico Frizzoni bequeathed his family residence to the Town Hall and it has housed the Municipality since 1933.

Palazzo Frizzoni, the seat of the Municipality of Bergamo, is located in the heart of the lower city, a short distance from the road axis which, crossing Porta Nuova, leads from the railway station towards the hill on which the historic center stands surrounded by the Venetian walls, a UNESCO heritage site. Palazzo Frizzoni is a sort of the epicenter of the lower city: on the edge of both one of its historical cores from the medieval era, and the twentieth-century center, the Piacentini one, built on the area of ​​the millenary fair of Sant’Alessandro. It is located at the junction point between the walking street, the Sentierone, and the shopping street, via XX settembre. A short distance away is the Donizetti Theater, the heart of the city’s cultural life.

The structure of Palazzo Frizzoni was built between 1836 and 1840, while work on the interiors continued until 1850. The Antonio Frizzoni firm had opened in 1790 in via San Bernardino. In 1802, with the flourishing proceeds of the business, Antonio bought a building in the central district of Sant’Orsola intended to house the new family residence. The building was left in 1927 by Enrico Frizzoni to become the Town Hall. The adaptation works to the new functions took place in 1932/33 and on 28 October 1933 the Municipality moved into the building. Since 26 July 1950, the meetings of the municipal council have been held in the specially created hall.

Palazzo Frizzoni is a remarkable neoclassical building commissioned to Rodolfo Vantini in 1825. Crossing the threshold of the central door, the internal courtyard opens up, the back wall of which appears to be the real facade of the building, allowing a glimpse of the garden. At the end of the staircase leading to the noble floor, the council chamber opens to the left, decorated in 1948/1949 by the students of the Carrara Academy led by Achille Funi and Pino Pizzigoni. The architectuaral skill of Vantini and the elegance of the decorations, created by the painters Salvatoni from Gandino and probably by the school of Vincenzo Bonomini, are also evident in the distribution of the spaces, in the staircase, in the reception hall, and the adjacent rooms. The entire first floor is a succession of prestigious rooms, once the residence of the Frizzonis and now used as offices.