Rocca Brivio, Baroque building in San Giuliano Milanese, Italy

Rocca Brivio is a country palazzo in San Giuliano Milanese, built on the foundations of a medieval castle. Its L-shaped plan has the longer west side with the entrance portal and the shorter north side, forming a porticoed courtyard closed east by a three-arch loggia and open south to the garden. The chapel stands at the northwest corner; the severe facades are exposed brick, with projecting window frames and rusticated pilasters casting strong shadows. Interiors are undecorated except the chapel.

A medieval castle stood on this site guarding the road from Milan to Lodi. In the 16th century it passed to the Marquises Brivio, and around 1680 Luigi Brivio had it demolished and built the present palazzo on its foundations, which kept the name "rocca" but lost all defensive function.

The name "rocca" survives from the medieval castle that stood here, though the 1680 palace lost all defensive function. The family chapel occupies the north-west corner of the L-shaped building; the rest of the interiors have no decoration, so the chapel is the one ornamented space.

The palazzo stands in open countryside on a small rise above the Lambro valley, reached from San Giuliano Milanese; the ground around it is unpaved and uneven. The L-shaped plan opens onto a porticoed courtyard, with the entrance portal on the west side and the garden to the south. Parts of the building are private, so check access before setting out.

The name "rocca" survives from the medieval castle that stood here guarding the road from Milan to Lodi; Luigi Brivio had it demolished around 1680 and built the palace on its foundations, so the building kept the name but lost every defensive function. The chapel at the north-west corner is the only decorated interior.