Post by Rosa Giovanno on Aug 21, 2015 12:49:15 GMT -6
Delizia Di Belriguardo
Built in 1435 by Niccolò Ill d'Este as a summer home; Belriguardo was continuously added to until it became one of the most celebrated palaces in Italy. It featured stabling for five hundred horses, secret passages, stately corridors, marble loggias, box-lined gardens and a chapel painted by Cosimo Tura. And if that isn't enough to spark your interest, it contained a succession of vast frescoed halls, leading to the Sala di Psiche with its renowned series of murals detailing the Roman myths. To quote an awed visitor: "Seeing this beautiful palace with its glazed and iron-grilled windows; I should think that a circuit of the place would be more than a mile."
Of course, all good things must come to an end, while all bad things, like aging pop divas and 70s style, are seemingly never-ending. In 1598, the Este family left, and Belriguardo became a stable, with horses living in the frescoed rooms.
Today, little remains of the palace.