Palazzo Pardi: Private Evening in a Historical Abruzzo Home

Our Palazzo Pardi tour with lunch or dinner tells the story of a secret window onto a church and a murder within the palazzo walls. Join us to find out more.

Certain doors have remained shut for centuries, but this one is now opening for you.

The same family has owned Palazzo Pardi for generations, and for the first time, it is opening its ballrooms, salons, and private rooms to a small number of guests before inviting you to sit at their table for a wine tasting and some local food. You will not be a visitor; you will be a guest.

Three Centuries Under One Roof

The palazzo was enlarged time and again from the early 1700s to the 1840s and, in doing so, acquired layers of baroque, rococo and neoclassical style.

Upon arrival, you’ll see stone busts and herms depicting illustrious figures; the stone staircase leads up through the baroque doorway to a series of salons, drawing rooms, and bedchambers.

The painted walls and ceilings, created between 1820 and 1840, include trompe-l’oeil architecture, marbling, and allegorical figures, all still in place, and many original period doors survive.

Your Guide

A direct descendant of the Pardi family will accompany you through the rooms that once resounded with balls and parties, then into the private areas: the library, the alcoves, and a secret room with a direct view of the Church of San Pancrazio, in which there is the family’s private chapel and now one of FAI’s “Luoghi del Cuore”, the places Italians have nominated as worth saving.

These walls have also seen tragedy. During the French occupation of Abruzzo in 1798 and 1799, Don Vincenzo Pardi, drawn to the liberal values the French brought, was elected President of the Manoppello town council. Three days later, while the French soldiers were briefly away, their opponents came down into the town and murdered him inside the palazzo.

A Wine Tasting at the Family Table

You experience Abruzzese hospitality best by doing it, not describing it. The visit concludes with a private convivio, including a tasting of Palazzo wines and regional specialities, followed by a slow conversation with your host.

Why Come?

• Genuine: a lived-in home with original furnishings, 19th-century tempera paintings, and period details throughout.
• Exclusive: visits take place behind closed doors, led by a member of the Pardi family and ending with a private tasting at the family table.
• A tasting not to be forgotten: two or three wines from Abruzzo, served with antipasti and other regional specialities, all within the palazzo itself.
• Everything in one visit: Abruzzo’s history, characters, and flavours.

Lunch or Evening at Palazzo Pardi

Every visit includes a guided tour of the palazzo by a member of the Pardi family, followed by a wine tasting and convivio in the palazzo. Choose from:

• Piccolo Convivio: mixed antipasti and two wines, €60
• Convivio Regolare: mixed antipasti, a pasta course, dessert buffet and three wines, €90

Meeting point: Corso Santarelli 68, Manoppello, facing the main square.

The price includes only the listed items; payment is due on arrival. Advance booking is essential, at least two weeks before your visit. Places are limited, out of respect for the house and to keep the storytelling intimate, and availability can change close to the date.