FIRMIAN PALACE IN MECHEL

First mentioned in 1423 as “Domus de Meclo”, the fortified residence known as the “Castle with a hundred windows” was renovated 1486 by Nicolò di Firmian. The building is distinguished by its imposing doorway in Mannerist style, representing one of the most important examples of late Renaissance prestige architecture in Val di Non.

The Palazzo di Mechel was renovated in 1486 by Nicolò di Firmian, who transformed the fortified residence facing the square into a Renaissance home. Today the complex comprises two main building units, combined and extending to three floors. The entrance is imposing and elegant, decorated with the Firmian coat of arms, but the most striking features are the approximately 70 rusticated windows, large on the first and second floors and smaller on the third, earning it the epithet of “Castle with a hundred windows”.

Among the structures nominated in documentary sources, the chapel dedicated to our Lady of Sorrows and cited in 1743 is noteworthy.

Still visible inside the building is a fresco from the 1700s depicting mythological scenes like the Flight of Icarus and others from Ovid's Metamorphoses, among which the Rape of Europa is most prominent.

At the beginning of the XIX century the Firmian family sold the building to the Miller family of Cles, who in turn passed it on to the Mechel family in the 1870s. 

In recent decades a number of events have changed the appearance of the building, starting from 1946 when part of the northern side collapsed due to a landslide, after which a massive barbican was constructed. In 1965 concrete stairs were added on the south facade with the elimination of an old window.