Torre e Palazzo Pallavicina ---

On the border between the provinces of Brescia, Cremona and Bergamo stands the small municipality of Torre Pallavicina. The fate of the village has been linked since 1070 to the family of the Conti Barbò, on whose lands Tristano Sforza built a tower during the 1400s, called the Torre di Tristano, for defensive purposes. Also here, in the 1500s, the marquis Adalberto Marchese Pallavicino, from whom the village would later take its name, erected an imposing palazzo, with a rather unusual motivation: "… not wanting to follow ungrateful princes anymore…" and as a "… seat of leisure and peace for himself and his friends (SIBI ET AMICIS)". This purpose is carved in stone above the porticoes of the façade. The palazzo constitutes one of the most peculiar examples of a blend between an ancient fortress, of typically