The Torre Viscontea is the only intact surviving part of the Visconti fortifications that once surrounded Lecco: a fourteenth-century tower on Piazza XX Settembre, now used as a free-entry space for temporary exhibitions.
History
Lecco’s fortified borough was ringed by defensive walls from the time of Azzone Visconti, the same lord of Milan who had the nearby Ponte Azzone Visconti built. In the seventeenth century the fortifications housed a Spanish garrison, mentioned by Manzoni in The Betrothed (for the places of the novel, see the itinerary Manzoni’s Lecco). In 1782 Emperor Joseph II abolished the military stronghold, opening the way to the town’s urban growth: the defences were sold to private owners and the bastions were demolished during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Only the tower survives of the Visconti walls.
What to see
The ground floor holds the guardroom and a few stone cannonballs. The first floor hosts temporary exhibitions organised by the Lecco Urban Museum System (SiMUL) and the Culture Department; the upper floors are intended for new museum spaces.
Practical information
- Address: Piazza XX Settembre 3, Lecco, a short walk from Palazzo delle Paure.
- Free admission.
- Open Thursday 10:00-13:00, Friday and Saturday 14:00-18:00, Sunday 10:00-18:00; closed Monday to Wednesday and on 1 May and 25 December. Opening depends on the presence of temporary exhibitions, so it is worth checking the calendar before your visit.
- Not accessible to visitors with reduced mobility (access is by stairs).
- Hours are from simulecco.it (checked in September 2026).