Palazzo Giulini, Baroque palace in Sorico, Italy.
Palazzo Giulini is a Baroque villa in Sorico, at the northern end of Lake Como, with a raised central block and two curved wings framing a wide entrance terrace reached by two stairways. Its four floors held halls decorated with stuccoes, frescoes and woodwork, lit by large windows facing the gardens and the Alto Lario. The garden rose from the road to the villa in seven large water basins fed by the nearby Sorico stream, forming small cascades.
Construction began in the second half of the 17th century on the order of Giorgio Giulini, first Count of Sorico and Royal Ducal Senator of Milan, and the complex was finished in 1733 when the master builder Giovanni Maria Baroggio of Rezzonico billed 1,197 lire for the final embellishments of the palace and its park fountains. The architect remains unidentified, though Pietro Ligari is thought to have completed the early 18th-century enlargement. A flood on 1 September 1755 ruined the gardens, and Count Giovanni Giulini moved to Gravedona; the palace was sold in 1800 and passed to local families around 1850.
The palace was a center for fish trade and agricultural work, reflecting how noble families in the Lake Como area made their living. These activities shaped the local economy and remain important to understanding the site today.
The palace stands in ruins north of the SS 340 national road at Sorico, on the northern tip of Lake Como, and is private property that is uninhabited, so it is viewed from outside. The building sits close to the Sorico torrent that once fed its fish ponds; the ground near the water can be damp after rain.
The 1 September 1755 flood of the Sorico torrent broke the garden walls and filled the house with debris; Count Giovanni Giulini then moved to Gravedona, and the palace became a granary and warehouse. It was sold in 1800 with the family's properties, including the Piani di Spagna, and passed to local families around 1850.
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