The Casa Barnekow is one of the best known tourist attractions of Anagni. It is named after the Swedish painter, Alberto Barnekow, who was married to a local woman and bought the palazzo in the 19th century to subsequently have it restored.
Casa Barnekow Anagni
Address, opening times and admission
The address of the Casa Barnekow is Via Vittorio Emanuele, 89 – 03012 Anagni. The building is privately owned and cannot be visited by tourists.
History and description
The Casa Barnekow is not the only striking building along the main street. Ever since the Middle Ages, important figures such as cardinals, bankers and feudal lords have bought palaces here and embellished them with all sorts of decorations.
The Casa Barnekow is certainly the most striking of these buildings. It is named after the Swedish nobleman and painter who bought it in the 19th century. He then had the façade embellished with frescoes and plaques with texts in various languages.
The staircase on the outside of the small building and located under several arches supported by a large column makes for an extremely picturesque sight.
Inside the Casa Barnekow, which is unfortunately not open to the public, there are frescoes painted by the man himself.
There are also several inscriptions in Latin, in (clumsy) Italian and in Swedish.
Before Barnekow bought the building, it was called the Casa Gigli. None other than Dante Alighieri himself is supposed to have slept there when he visited Anagni.
In the Sant’Andrea Church opposite Palazzo Barnekow, a 13th century triptych depicting the “Redeemer” is on display.