Casa Crespi

Palace in Milan, Italy

45°28′08″N 9°11′48″E / 45.468899°N 9.196651°E / 45.468899; 9.196651Construction started16th centuryRenovated18th century

Casa Crespi is a historic building in Milan located at 15 Via Sant’Andrea.

History and description

Although the palace dates back in its original form to the 16th century, it underwent major reconstruction during the 18th century. The façade is rather sober and austere: the ground floor is centred on the portal in smooth ashlar crowned by a balcony supported by corbels, while the openings flanking the portal are decorated with stone cornices. On the piano nobile, the windows are decorated with mouldings with high entablature, a decoration that disappears on the second floor to make room for windows with simple stone cornices. The interior is presented as a horseshoe-shaped building, with the side facing the eighteenth-century ashlar-work internal façade dedicated to the entrance to the garden.^[1]

The building, for many years the residence of the Manara family, was the birthplace of patriot Luciano Manara.^[2]