Museum Network: Rete Museale Alto Verbano
Where the Middle Ages meet contemporary art
In the historical centre of the village of Cannobio, the complex of the old town hall with the civic bell tower represents a small jewel of well-preserved medieval construction.
The palace, known as 'della Ragione' or Parasi, is divided into two buildings from different eras: the Broletto, which has the characteristics of 13th-century Lombard municipal palaces, and a smaller building that connects it to the bell tower.
The Broletto has a rectangular ground plan and two floors above a barrel-vaulted portico. The porticoed area was the seat of the 'Banco di Giustizia’ (Justice Bench), while on the upper floor, illuminated by mullioned windows with two lights, the general council met and the legislative, judicial and administrative activities of the town took place.
While the bell tower was built between 1205 and 1209, the construction of the Parasi is dated to 1291 thanks to an epigraph walled on the eastern wall of the portico, which also informs us that the podestà Ugolino da Mandello was its promoter.
The complete restoration carried out between 2012 and 2014 gave new value to the palace, which now houses in the portico on the ground floor, the tourist office, where various ancient artefacts (reliefs, stelae and coats of arms, inscriptions and two Roman sarcophagi) are also housed; while the mezzanine floors contain exhibition spaces for contemporary art exhibitions.
The Parasi can be visited inside with free admission during temporary exhibitions, which are held from May to October.
Accessibility: also for disabled people
Schools: on request for groups/school groups, maximum two classes at the same time.
Credit: Archivio Fotografico Distretto dei Laghi - Lorenzo Pipi and Marco Benedetto Cerini and Susy Mezzanotte
