Palazzo Sormani, Italian Baroque palazzo in Corso di Porta Vittoria, Milan, Italy.
Palazzo Sormani is a Baroque palazzo on Corso di Porta Vittoria in Milan, with a rococo facade designed by Francesco Croce and a second facade that opens onto a garden at the rear. The building has two wings and includes both formal interior rooms and an inner courtyard connecting to the garden.
The first recorded owner was the military commander Giovanni Battista Castaldo in the 16th century, who acquired and developed the property. In the 17th century it passed to Cardinal Cesare Monti, who kept his art collection there, and later in the 18th century it came into the hands of the Sormani family.
The name of the building comes from the Sormani family, who owned and expanded it in the 18th century. Today, anyone can walk through the main entrance on Corso di Porta Vittoria and use it as a public library, as students and local residents regularly do.
The building is freely accessible as a public library and sits in a central neighborhood of Milan that is easy to reach on foot or by public transport. Visitors who want to see the garden should enter through the main door and ask at the reception desk for access.
The garden was laid out in the late 18th century by Leopold Pollack. In 1955 the city placed Agenore Fabbri's terracotta group of a boar hunt there, the year before Arrigo Arrighetti's restoration made the palace Milan's central public library.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,406 contributors worldwide.