Palazzo Bentivoglio

Palazzo Bentivoglio is a Renaissance building in Gualtieri with a grand facade opening onto the main square and two corner towers flanking the structure. The building features a spacious central courtyard surrounded by multiple towers and deep moats that trace back to an earlier castle on the site.

Cornelio Bentivoglio acquired Gualtieri in 1567 and commissioned architect Giovan Battista Aleotti to build this noble residence between 1594 and 1600. The work rose on the remains of an earlier fortress and combines fortification elements of the past with Renaissance architectural features.

The building houses several museums and collections today, including a documentary museum and the Antonio Ligabue Museum Foundation. These institutions make the palace a living place of art and history that visitors encounter as they walk through.

The palace sits in Piazza Bentivoglio in central Gualtieri and is easy to reach on foot. The building is currently closed for restoration work, so check ahead about when it may reopen for visits.

The building preserves traces of an even older castle beneath its foundations that once controlled the waterways of the area. This hidden history shows itself in the deep moats and walls that still surround the site today.