Official Information
Official website: https://www.palazzopfanner.it/
Online tickets: https://www.palazzopfanner.it/en/prodotto/visit-the-garden-and-the-museum/
Address: Via degli Asili 33, 55100 Lucca (LU), Italy
Map: View on Google Maps
Opening Hours
Garden and museum generally open from 15 March to 31 December; typical visiting times are around 10:00 to 18:00, with occasional special evening or reduced openings during events. Check the official website or on-site notices for exact daily hours and any closures.
Palazzo Pfanner is a privately owned baroque palace and garden that sits just inside Lucca’s Renaissance walls, a few minutes’ walk from the Basilica di San Frediano. Built in the 17th century for the Moriconi family and later enlarged by the Controni, the palazzo combines a monumental façade, a grand external staircase and an elegant 18th-century Italian garden attributed to architect Filippo Juvarra. Today visitors follow a classic route: first through the formal garden, then up the staircase into the historic residence and its small but evocative museum. The garden is compact but very scenic, laid out with box hedges, gravel avenues, citrus trees in terracotta pots and baroque statuary representing deities and virtues. From the paths you get unusual framed views of Lucca’s city walls and the church towers beyond, making it one of the best places in town for photographs and quiet moments away from traffic. Inside, a sequence of frescoed rooms preserves the atmosphere of an aristocratic Lucchese residence. The main salon has 18th-century illusionistic ceiling paintings by Pietro Paolo Scorsini and Lorenzo De Santi, while side rooms display period furniture, family portraits and religious objects. A small exhibition recounts the story of Dr. Pietro Pfanner, a surgeon and former mayor of Lucca, with vitrines of historical medical instruments that add a quirky, human touch to the visit. The palace also has a cinematic side: its staircases, salons and garden have repeatedly been used as film locations, reinforcing its image as one of Lucca’s most photogenic corners. A visit typically takes 45 to 60 minutes, longer if you sit in the garden. Because it is privately managed, opening days, prices and occasional closures can shift with events, weddings or restoration work, so it is worth checking the official website just before you go. For travellers exploring Lucca on foot or by bike along the walls, Palazzo Pfanner is an easy detour and a good value paid sight that combines architecture, garden design and local history in a single stop.