Palazzo Betta Grillo is a palace in Rovereto in the Santa Maria district, south of the Leno stream. It was wanted by the community of Lizzana, which governed this part of the town and meant to make it the official seat of its Regola, the local governing body; the plan came to nothing, and in the first decades of the eighteenth century the building was put up for auction and bought by the Betta. The family added a wing for the servants, at right angles to the original block on the east side, closing the garden space, and the stables. Towards the end of the nineteenth century the Grillo took over; in 2017 the last owner, Maria Angelica Grillo, handed it to the town council.
What to see
The design seems to have been inspired by the Tacchi, the family of architects and builders then active in Rovereto: the building resembles the almost contemporary Palazzo Rosmini-Balista, which is certainly theirs. The interiors, especially on the main floor, are refined and hold various works, among them two large paintings by Gaspare Antonio Baroni Cavalcabò, a painter from Sacco.
In the portrait room a painting probably shows Felice Giuseppe Betta, archpriest of Rovereto and a cultivated man, admired by Girolamo Tartarotti and a member of the Accademia degli Agiati. At the entrance to the first-floor hall a plaque commemorates the donor.
Visiting
Since July 2020 the palace is reported to be open on the first and third Saturday of the month, with volunteers from the Touring Club Italiano's «Aperti per voi» project: days and times should be checked.
Our editors' tip
There was a certain rivalry between Lizzana and Rovereto, and the area south of the Leno was called the «Repubblica di Zinevra», in contrast to Rovereto, the city of the oak: «zinevro» is juniper, which grew wild here.
