Palazzo Altan

Palazzo Altan was erected in the 17th century in the hamlet of Taliano where in 1603 the family had acquired a building. After some modifications, the passing of ownership to Cesarini of Grimana Tower in 1751 and the construction of an oratory dedicated to San Gaetano, the building reached its final architectural form. Up until the 18th century the garden of Palazzo Altan was simply a courtyard with two canopies on the sides and at the end a semi-circular wall at the end, now adorned with fragments of frescoes attributed to a 17th-century German painter. With the young Enrico Altan, a member of the Arcadian Academy of Udine, the palace became the seat of academic encounters. The intellectually-refined and cultured atmosphere brought about modifications to the layout of the palace and garden, which acquired a symmetrical form emphasizing the semi-circular wall at the bottom of the garden. Beyond this wall, the area defined as an orto on the map was probably a flower garden; the flowerbeds were in fact elegantly designed, divided into four groups by walkways in the shape of a cross.

Today this garden has been transformed into a park; the garden adjoining the villa was also redeveloped during the 1920s with the addition of statues, which have unfortunately deteriorated, as well as new varieties of plants and flowers. Restoration projects are being studied in order to refurbish the palace and breath new life into its elegant garden.