Gallio Palace is a cardinal mansion located in Gravedona, in the Province of Como. The mansion was built on the location of the pristine hamlet castle by Cardinal and Papal State Secretary Tolomeo Gallio, who had received the Tre Pievi territory as a fief in 1580. The foundations were laid between 1586 and 1587, but the building was completed only after 1607, when the cardinal died without ever living in his own mansion. Gallio Palace was then inherited by The cardinal’s nephews, the Dukes D’Alvito who never used it as their residence. During the French and Spanish occupation it was used as a hospital, until the XIXth century when it was sold to private owners. Today the Palace is home to the Comunità Montana Valli del Lario e del Ceresio and has been listed on the National Monuments Roll. The villa is a solid squared building whose four angular towers seem to remind of the previous castle. the two loggias opened onto the Lake revive the tradition of Renaissance villas. The inner rooms are arranged around a main central hall and the palace used to be surrounded by a fenced garden, renowned since the 1500’s for its rare herbal essences, which presently stretches towards the mountains and features numerous camellia trees. Every week during the week preceding Easter, the Palace and its garden are the home to the “Camellia Exhibit”