Palazzo Besta

Of great historical importance, Palazzo Besta preserves a splendid Renaissance architecture.
The powerful Besta family has very ancient origins, in fact it is documented in Teglio in the XIII century.
There are no reliable data on the family residence and the investigations carried out on the building and its structure date back to the 14th century. Probably the palace, at that time, was very similar to the type of medieval residence that is used to define mans, a middle ground between the fortified dwelling and the rustic villa. It is not known exactly when the building took its current form, which shows clear Renaissance features but it is likely that the renovation work began at the time of Azzo i Besta, around 1490, and concluded in 1508 with his death.
The building has three floors above ground that are built around a square courtyard with two orders of loggias.
The main façade flanks the access road to the village and is divided into two floors by a high band decorated with rhombs. The windows of variable dimensions are surmounted by triangular tympanums, in the center of which are round paintings with profiles of famous men. The coat of arms of some important telline families are frescoed in the lunettes of the eaves.
The beginning of the decorative bell of the palace dates back to the years of Azzo II, around 1540 circa. The most ancient works are certainly the frescoes of the central courtyard, the true heart of the house, with the Stories of the Aeneid painted in monochrome on the whole wall of the upper loggia, with no architectural partition to separate the various episodes; the frieze, with decorative motifs and medallions that enclose profiles of male and female characters, placed to mark the division between the upper and lower loggia; and finally, the Stories of the Orlando Furioso of the Hall of Honor, and the monochrome lunettes of the upper register, where the motif of the medallions is repeated with busts and profiles of characters dressed in the past or in contemporary clothes.