Palazzo Litta

The Palazzo Litta, also known Palazzo Arese-Litta, is a Baroque structure in Milan’s Corso Magenta, opposite San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore, and dating from the period of Spanish rule of the city.

Architect Francesco Maria Richini built the nucleus of the palazzo in the years 1642–1648 for Count Bartolomeo Arese, a member of one of the most influential Milanese families of the period who became President of the Senate of Milan in 1660. Palazzo Litta thus became an important centre of Milanese fashionable and political culture. Grand parties held here over the years included receptions for Archduchess Mariana of Austria, for Spanish Infanta Margaret Theresa, for Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, for Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, for Eugène de Beauharnais and for the arrival of Napoleon in Milan.