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Andrea Benoni will guide us in discovering Palazzo Savioli-Antonini-Monte, today owned by the Artieri Foundation 1852. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the courtyard and some rooms of the palace, walk through corridors and balconies, and see what the Savioli, Antonini, and Monte families saw during the times they lived in the palace. Together, we will trace the historical events of the building by reading this brief essay by Giuseppe Costisella, a renowned Trentino historian and essayist, author of numerous well-regarded monographs dedicated to local history, architecture, and traditions of the Trentino region. His research has particularly focused on historic buildings, noble families, institutions, and the ancient dialects of Trentino-Alto Adige.

« The Savioli and Monte houses in Rovereto

In the narrow streets of the city center, so full of charm, many houses attract the attention of passersby due to their architectural beauty and the grace of the worked stones that adorn them. Particularly noteworthy for the testimony they provide of distant events and for the memories they hold of ancient families are the two contiguous houses now marked with numbers 1 and 5 on Via della Terra, located to the right of those proceeding from Piazza S. Marco towards the Tower.

Although they completely differ in their external appearance today, they originally had a common origin and, for several years, also shared the same function. This was until Gasparo Savioli bought the complex of existing buildings from the merchant Oliviero Olivieri, as described in the deed of May 24, 1564, by notary Marco Porta: “a house covered with tiles with an apothecary’s shop, a storeroom, chambers, underground vaults, a courtyard, in the district of La Campanella, bordering the common road in front, behind the walls of the land of Roverè, on the side towards Trento Pietro Saibante and Via Consortale, and on the other side the heirs of Gaspare Trentini.”

The agreed price for Ragnese was 1,350. Gaspare paid part of it in cash and part in silk fabrics called “damaschi rasi e ormesini.” This reveals the type of activity carried out by the buyer. In fact, the Savioli family, originally from Bardolino and established in Rovereto since the second half of the 1400s, is rightly credited with introducing the art of weaving to Rovereto, which in turn gave an impulse to other activities, particularly dyeing. Thanks to favorable conditions—such as the abundant availability of water for industries and its geographical position for trade—Rovereto became a leading center that attracted wealthy entrepreneurs from all over, along with a large number of skilled workers and artisans. These collectively gave Rovereto society its distinctive character—open to progress, civil development, and culture—that found its best expression in the 18th century.

In 1562, Gasparo, together with his brothers Donato and Giovanni, was made noble of the Holy Roman Empire for his merits in the industrial field, and Emperor Ferdinand I also granted him a noble coat of arms. Shortly after, he remodeled the house he had just purchased to suit his business, placing the family crest in a key position above the main door of the larger building (via della terra n. 5). This house, enhanced by the presence of a charming balcony, has remained almost unchanged to this day. The house at number 1 was instead one story high, while on the ground floor, each had looms working tirelessly to produce precious fabrics destined for German merchants.

Unchanged through the centuries is also the portico located between the two houses, now called the “Scala della Torre,” from which one descends into Piazza delle Erbe. In the past, however, when the “terra di Roverè” was still enclosed by Venetian walls that extended in a straight line from the porticos to the bastion of the Trivio alley, the portico was a communal passage that allowed access to the houses built against the walls and to the rear part of those facing the Church of S. Marco; it was called “pontirola sotto la chiesa di S. Marco” or also “introlo” or “androna,” often accompanied by the names of various owners of the houses—Saibanti, Savioli, Sbardellati, etc. The Venetian walls, which passed where the staircase leading down to the square now begins, formed an impassable barrier. Beyond it, exactly where the now-constructed Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza Malfatti are, there was a “cesura” (a break or gap) belonging to the Convent of the Carmelites of S. Maria.

The industrial activity, so well managed by Gaspare, was not continued by his two sons: Federico, who dedicated himself to commerce and moved to Nuremberg, and Gian Nicolò, who graduated in law and practiced as a lawyer in Rovereto. The only surviving son, named Gasparo like his grandfather, worsened the family estate with debts and, dying still young in 1647, left his wife Aquilina Eccaro the heavy task of arranging and adequately dowries for their five daughters born from their marriage. The widow succeeded in this task, naturally resorting to additional debts. Of those daughters, two, Francesca and Diodata, married in Rovereto: the first to the doctor Antonio Folgarait, the second to the noble Francesco Fontana, captain of Castel Penede; Camilla in Riva with the doctor Alessandro Salvadori, and Angelina and Elena with two notaries from Mantua, Antonio Tomasi and Francesco Valestra. Aquilina had to struggle a lot not only to gather the money but also, for the daughters married in Mantua, to transfer it to that city. At that time, money, valued for its silver and gold content, was a scarce commodity. Transporting it from one place to another also involved some risks, as well as expenses. Rovereto had to import wheat from Verona and Mantua and could not offer silk or wine to the producing countries. To meet the payment deadlines for the dowries of her daughters married in Mantua, Aquilina had to resort to an unusual expedient: entrusting a tenant of Volano with two pairs of oxen to be driven and sold in that city.

Aquilina’s successive acts of sale were now aimed at settling the many debts by selling the properties as opportunities arose. On March 9, 1678, in an act by notary Bernardino Benvenuti de’ Chiusole, the house now marked as number 1 was sold to Don Giovanni Monte, and it was described as follows: “a house located in the Piazza di San Marco, also known as the Torre, which borders on one side Nicolò Andreotti, in front the Imperial Road, behind partly to Andreotti and partly to the courtyard, on the other side the selling sisters with the large house, below the canal belonging to the sold house with the deep canal which remains to the Savioli sisters.”

From that moment, with the separation of the two houses, that branch of the Savioli family, which was about to become extinct, also lost all interest. Their old house was later transferred to Dr. Folgarait, Aquilina’s son-in-law, and around the mid-1700s, to the merchant Giuseppe Battisti of Mori; gradually, until the year 1884, when it was transferred to the Property of the Society of Mutual Assistance of Artisans of Rovereto as a bequest from the philanthropist Enrico Antonini, as recalled by the plaque mounted on the façade, right above the old family coat of arms.

The buyer of house number 1, with the deed dated April 1, 1679, by notary Pietro Malinverno, subsequently sold it to his brother Valentino. The price of 900 Ràgnesi was paid with money coming from the dowry of his wife Elisabetta dal Rì, from Mori. This is the moment when the house underwent a radical transformation that clearly distinguished it from the old Savioli house, of which it had been a lesser part until then.

She adorns herself with the beautiful portal with the coat of arms adopted by ‘Valentino Monte and with the inscription:

SOMMI DEI PRINCIPISQUE TUTUS GRATIA

The legend, perhaps intentionally cryptic, might lead one to believe that the Monte house had enjoyed the right of asylum, but it is known that in Rovereto such a privilege was granted only to the palace built in the 16th century by Baldessar Trautson in Borgo S. Caterina (now via Garibaldi no. 82). It is certain, however, that no one fleeing justice ever sought refuge there. Therefore, the inscription should be understood as an expression of gratitude to Providence for the possessions acquired, on the part of a man who respected the laws and civil ordinances. The new owner compensates for the limited space by adding additional floors and arranging the interior in a practical manner, where the layout of the rooms and the decorative details of stuccoes and wrought iron grilles contribute to creating an environment that displays a pronounced love for beauty, surpassing the needs that a wealthy family could then desire.

Who was Valentino Monte and what position did he hold in the Rovereto environment of his time? His father Antonio, known as Zuane Monte, moved to Rovereto from Cornè di Brentonico in the early 1600s, and for many years he successfully practiced commerce, running a shop in Rialto Square. Of his three children, the eldest named Giovanni became a priest, serving as an assistant to the archpriest of Rovereto, and from 1676 onwards, he also obtained the benefice of the church of S. Carlo, attached to the Convent of the Clarisses founded by Beata Giovanna. He accumulated a significant estate of tithes and fixed assets, which after his death in 1713, intestate, led to a long dispute among his heirs. The second daughter, Lucia, married the legal expert Pace Francesco Ceniga, who received a dowry of 1,500 florins (about 10-15 million lire today) from her brothers, according to the deed dated June 16, 1675, by notary Bernardino Benvenuti. Finally, Valentino, who like his father initially practiced successful commerce and increased his wealth, sought to rise in social prestige through honorary appointments. He served for some time as the administrator of the Rovereto Gymnasium founded in 1675, and later directed the postal service of Rovereto and Torbole. He also obtained the rank of officer in the town militias. In 1704, during the War of Spanish Succession, holding the rank of lieutenant, he intervened and succeeded in freeing Antonio Dossi of Cornè, who was detained at Rovereto Castle and had been arrested for suspected dealings with the enemy during the French invasion the previous year. Monte, in order to achieve this goal more easily, found it appropriate to “make a donation to a notable person of twenty yards of velvet and money,” and his fellow townsman Dossi, upon being freed, committed to repay him. (Act of February 10, 1704, notary Gio Francesco Turrini).

While Valentino’s ambitions achieved significant satisfaction in every field, his greatest desire to see his descendants continue was disappointed. From his marriage, he had only two daughters: Lucia (1678 – 1750), who married Giacomo Cristoforo Hinitz (1665 – 1751) in 1705 and had descendants, and Teresa, who married Dr. Antonio Chiusole in 1719 but had no children.

Now, the origin of the coat of arms adorning the portal of that Monte house remains to be understood. It did not, in fact, come to Valentino along with a noble diploma, although he was designated as noble in various notarial acts. Its characteristics show that it was granted by a Palatine Count: a dignitary who, by imperial delegation, had the authority not only to appoint notaries and legitimize illegitimate children but also to enable deserving individuals, based on their condition, to use a coat of arms for their dignity. During that time, a multitude of such honors was bestowed upon many Rovereto families by Bartolomeo Pizzini (1644–1714), authorized by a diploma from Leopold I, dated August 17, 1770. Perini lists as many as 26 grants of coats of arms attributed by Pizzini through notarial acts, between 1690 and 1714, to as many families. However, the Monte family does not appear in this group. But one cannot believe that Palatine Count Pizzini was inactive in granting coats of arms between 1670 and 1690 without paying attention to the ambitions of Rovereto merchants.

It is rather legitimate to suppose that in those years he directly issued the diploma without any trace of it remaining in a notarial deed, as will be the case from 1690 onwards. But even if it is not known who conferred it upon him, the use of the coat of arms by the Monte must have been entirely legal. It also appears in his secret will of December 14, 1718, which he claims to have written by his own hand, “corroborated by my seal, in which is impressed a shield with a lamb and above it two stars, and above the shield two uppercase letters V and M”; a will that he entrusted to notary G. B. Mascotti to be published after his death. He resorted to this measure because he had left his daughter Teresa only the legitimate share, reserving the other three-quarters for his daughter Lucia, married to Hinitz. Evidently, he must have been opposed to the marriage Teresa was about to enter into with Dr. Antonio Chiusole, for which a dispensation from Rome for third-degree kinship was invoked. However, the marriage took place two months later and was celebrated in the church of Madonna del Monte, with Dr. Gio Felice Ceniga and Cristoforo Hinitz as witnesses—one being a cousin, the other a brother-in-law of the bride. After returning to his previous decision, on March 17, 1727, Valentino dictated a new will to the same notary Mascotti, in which he designated his two daughters as equal heirs.

In subsequent divisions, the house passed into the ownership of the Hinitz family. Members of this family, originally from Silesia, had held positions in the magistracy in Innsbruck, where Giacomo Cristoforo was born. In 1686, he came to Rovereto as the procurator of the Folkamer and Seitel house from Nuremberg, and he immediately obtained citizenship there. Like his father-in-law Valentino Monte, he was part of the urban militia, in which he reached the rank of lieutenant of the white armor company. From the Rovereto branch of this family, several notable individuals emerged, including the lawyer Cristoforo (1737–1790), who, together with his sister Lucia, obtained a noble diploma from the Holy Roman Empire in 1765, with the predicate of Gutentall and the coat of arms featuring a rampant lion. It is thanks to these two Hinitz siblings that the magnificent portal of the house has preserved its original appearance, with the coat of arms of their great-grandfather Valentino Monte.

Fondazione Artieri 1852

Since 1852, the Artieri Foundation has preserved and renewed a long tradition of solidarity, participation, and civic engagement. Originally founded as a mutual aid society, it has endured through generations and social changes, maintaining a strong connection with the community, with the aim of promoting cultural, social, and collective interest initiatives. Its history tells of a heritage of values that still today guide the activities of the Foundation.

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