Brera Palace

You’ve arrived at the famous Brera Palace, home to several major institutions. The Pinacoteca di Brera is one of Italy’s most important museums, ranking alongside the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and the Vatican Museums in Rome. Its collection focuses mainly on Italian religious paintings, but unlike many other major Italian museums, it showcases masterpieces from several different schools, making it an absolute must for art lovers. In addition to the Pinacoteca, the palace houses the National Library, the Lombard Institute’s Academy of Sciences and Letters, the Astronomical Observatory, the Academy of Fine Arts, and the Botanical Garden. When I said it was big, I wasn’t exaggerating!

As for its history, this monumental palace was built in 1571 on the site of a former monastery, commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII, who entrusted it to the Jesuits to create a university. They established a prestigious school, a library, and an astronomical observatory. In 1773, when the Jesuit order was dissolved, the palace was handed over to the government, at that time, the House of Austria, which ruled Lombardy. Empress Maria Theresa then set about transforming it into a hub for various cultural institutions, founding the Academy of Fine Arts, the Palatine School and its library, and expanding the Botanical Garden.

With Italian unification in 1860, the museum finally opened to the public. Today, Brera Palace boasts no fewer than 38 galleries, carefully renovated between 2015 and 2018. Be sure to visit the inner courtyard, which is free to access, it’s absolutely stunning, with its double row of arcades and graceful white columns.