Palazzo Sardagna – Sala delle Scienze

Overlooking Piazza Dante and standing opposite Trento's train station, the building is a stone’s throw from the historic centre. This building was built between 1958-65 as part of a project by Trentino architect Adalberto Libera (1903-1963), a leading figure in Italian rationalist architecture.

The noble Trentini family had this structure built shortly before 1740. Stretching towards the sky with an understated little balcony, the front of the building is one of the most graceful 18th century façades in Trento. Between 1750 and 1765, the rooms inside were decorated by the painters Giorgio Anselmi and Orlando Fattori of Verona, Johann Josef Karl Henrici of Bolzano and Pietro Antonio Bianchi of Milan. There are some remarkable lavish white and gold stuccoes and majolica stoves with rococo shapes.

Some festival events will take place in the Sala dell’Aurora, which is considered the most prestigious room in the building. The large vault above it all was decorated with faux architectural features and frescoed in around 1750 with the allegorical Trionfo dell'Aurora (Triumph of Dawn) showing the ascent of the Trentini family. It is the work of an exceptional artist from the Veneto school whose identity is still disputed by scholars.

The square is named after Resistance martyr Mario Pasi, who served as a doctor at the Trento hospital during World War II. Embellished by the fountain produced by Andrea Malfatti depicting the god Bacchus, the small square has been a meeting point since the 14th century, where peasants bargained wages with landowners.