Palazzo Salis

Facing the ground where Chiavenna's castle once stood, Palazzo Salis is the town's great baroque residence, built in the eighteenth century as the town house of the Salis family from the Grisons. Frescoed reception halls, rococo ceilings, soapstone floors and a garden shaded by centuries-old trees give its rooms a richly Baroque character.

Why it matters

Chiavenna's history runs north across the Alps as much as south toward Milan, and Palazzo Salis is the built proof of that orientation: a Grisons noble family chose this town for its urban residence and furnished it in the international language of baroque and rococo. It was the principal of the Salis family’s palaces in the Valchiavenna, part of a family network that extended across the Alps.

What to notice

The garden facade, regarded as the palace’s most elegant front, faces the greenery. The Salone dei Ricevimenti rises across two storeys, its walls covered with studies and frescoes. The state rooms otherwise follow baroque layouts with rococo frescoes and stucco-like decorations on the ceilings, and the floors alternate between slabs of local pietra ollare — the soapstone that recurs all over Chiavenna, from the twelfth-century baptismal font to the palace pavement — and marble laid in a black-and-white chequer. The garden’s old trees frame the palace on its green side.

Context and history

The palace dates to the Settecento, when the Salis, a family of Grisons origin with estates and influence across the Valtellina and the neighbouring Alpine territories, established this residence in Chiavenna's castle quarter. Opposite the former Castello, the residence occupies a prominent place in Chiavenna’s historic centre.