Collector’s Dream
To stay at the restored Palazzo Maresgallo is to fully immerse oneself in excellent taste.
Located in the historical heart of the Baroque town of Lecce, Italy, 16th century Palazzo Maresgallo was in poor shape when Miriam and Lionel Gazzola visited it. They had no plans to buy or renovate it.
He had a long-standing career in restructuring old buildings; she had the perfect collector’s eye and a unique taste for art, fashion and design. Together, they already had a house in Salento, on the coast, where they regularly disconnected from a frantic Parisian life.
“It was love at first sight — mixed with fear, awe and excitement — when we discovered the palazzo,” Miriam recalls. Most of the windows had been walled, the façade blackened and some of the floors had collapsed.
That’s when Lionel Gazzola took centre stage: “Renovating and restructuring are two very different things: to restructure a four-century-old palazzo, you brace yourself with patience, listen to the building and look attentively at every inch, respecting immensely what was built and the traces left over time. It’s like being a mole and digging into layers of history,” he explains.
Relying on the best local artisans and craftsmen was also key. Inside the palazzo — which mixes classical and baroque elements — Lionel had to redefine the volumes, create floors, reopen doors and demolish walls, adding a wooden frame, even, to create one of the suites. After two years of construction work, Palazzo Maresgallo was bought back to its former glory, just in time (albeit in the midst of the pandemic) for Dior’s Croisière show in Lecce in 2021.
Lecce’s historical centre is a UNESCO world heritage site: from the palazzo’s rooftop, one looks up to the Campanile del Duomo and down into an ancient Roman open-air theatre. In between, the Gazollas have recreated a garden lush with citrus trees and a small pool. Past the first patio, all rooms tell the story of a collector’s home, starting with the entrance that unfolds like a grand hall with a stunning mural painted by Roberto Ruspoli: titled Il Sole Anche di Notte, it literally dances on the vaulted walls and ceiling, and refers to an archaic dance typical of the Salento region.
The artist also sculpted ceramic pieces that are scattered across the floors and rooms. For Palazzo Maresgallo, figuration is a guiding thread: contemporary sculptures, historical busts, colourful harlequin paintings by Maxime Vardanian and expressive photographs bring life into the double-height salons, study and living rooms on the first floor.
“Our idea was not to create a hotel but to open all spaces for visitors to enjoy; it is very much about living in a historical palazzo surrounded by art,” says Miriam. Each object and surface around the palazzo have been hand-picked or made to measure: bronze leaves designed as handles on doors or a chest of drawers; custom-printed trompe l’oeil wallpaper to maximise a perspective; steel-frame dining chairs covered in papier mâché; and freshly upholstered vintage furniture bought from antique shops. Right down to the water carafes and the coffee cups — also made by an artist — a stay at Palazzo Maresgallo is any collector’s dream.
