Palazzo Bellini stands on piazza Martiri della Libertà and owes its neoclassical look to the architect Stefano Ignazio Melchioni, who reworked an existing building at the end of the eighteenth century. It is the same Melchioni who laid out the tree-lined avenue in front of the sanctuary of Loreto, just outside Oleggio.
What to see
Through the main door you enter the inner courtyard, ringed by a portico with paired columns. An elegant staircase, its balustrade decorated with garlands of flowers, leads to the main floor: there the rooms carry frescoes of episodes from classical mythology. Throughout the palace are stuccoes and paintings made between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Visiting
Part of the palace belongs to the town council, which uses it for exhibitions and cultural events, while the rest is divided among private owners: you get in when something is on, so it is worth checking before turning up.
Our editors' tip
Napoleon lodged here in 1796, during the days when the arcades that blocked his carriage were being removed from the square. That is why this palace appears in the town's history and not only in architecture guides.
