Palazzo delle Paure
The name says everything: citizens once climbed these steps to pay taxes and tributes, and the dread was so reliable that the building acquired its nickname — Palazzo delle Paure, Palace of Fears — and kept it long after the tax collectors left. It stands at the corner of Piazza Cermenati and Piazza XX Settembre, its rectangular tower marked by trifore windows and a marble coat of arms bearing the Visconti serpent, slightly at odds with everything around it in the best possible way.
Today the four floors hold a modern and contemporary art collection — Lucio Fontana, Enrico Baj, Giò Pomodoro among them — alongside a photography archive of some 4,000 images and, on the third floor, a museum dedicated to Lecco's serious mountaineering tradition. The Lungolago promenade runs just outside.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who come back tend to spend longer on the second floor than they planned — the graphics and photography section pulls you in with images of the lake and surrounding territory across decades. The ground floor Infopoint is genuinely useful if you're mapping out the rest of Lecco; staff there know the Si.M.U.L. cumulative ticket, which covers several city museums.
The story behind Palazzo delle Paure
The original building on this site — a customs house, the Palazzo della Dogana — went up in 1905, only to be demolished eleven years later and rebuilt in an eclectic neo-medieval style. An adjacent porticoed building, designed by architect Adriano Gazzari, had already been completed in 1902. A rectangular tower followed around 1926. For decades the complex served the Intendenza di Finanza, the Catasto, and the Dogana; ordinary people arrived to settle their accounts with the state, and the nickname stuck.
After 1964 the building cycled through use as a school, then fell into abandonment. A full restoration brought it back as a public museum, inaugurated on 6 October 2012.
Good to know
The palazzo is a short walk from Lecco's train station and sits on the lakefront. It's closed on 1 May and 25 December; confirm current hours directly with the museum before visiting, as they vary. An elevator serves all four floors. Paid parking is available near San Nicolò.
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What travellers say about Palazzo delle Paure
We came specifically for this Hokusai exhibition and arrived at the opening, but we were not allowed in because there were already two groups inside.
Good villa. Worth visiting.
Center of Lecco is worth visiting each alley and street, BELLISSIMA
Very nice museum, full of interesting art pieces
So beautiful and interesting 💛
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