The ancient residence of the Taddei family stands in the old city-center of Ala, in the area called “nuova” (new) in 15th-century documents. Compared to the older part of the town, located further uphill in the nearby of the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta, the area Nuova is the result of the urban expansion of the 15th and 16th centuries.

It was in the 1400s that the first members of the Taddei family settled in Ala and built the oldest section of the palazzo, which was repeatedly expanded and decorated over the following decades, up to the 20th century.

The building features a typical courtyard structure: beyond the entrance hall lies a magnificent courtyard adorned with a two-level loggia. From the top of the arches, seventeen grotesque and caricatured masks gaze down.

This grand residence, spacious and elegant, housed the rooms and facilities for the various family members.

The interior spaces reflect transformations from the 19th century, which particularly altered the central section of the palazzo.

On the ground floor, the kitchen is still well-preserved, along with the nearby pantry and, at the rear, the old garden and well. The most prestigious rooms, however, are located on the upper floor, featuring a decorative cycle created around 1870 with urban views, flowers, and exotic animals. Along the entire facade facing the street stretches a large hall-gallery, richly frescoed in the mid-17th century. It showcases a series of putti holding scrolls (bearing quotations from the Psalms) and thirty-two lunettes with views of cities, countrysides, and seascapes.

While the Taddei family was establishing itself in the lower Vallagarina, another phenomenon was taking root and leaving a lasting mark on the region: sericulture. During the Venetian rule, between 1411 and 1509, mulberry cultivation was introduced in Ala and Rovereto, initially intended for silk farming in the Verona area. A few decades later we have the first reports about silkworm breeding and silk production in the vicariate of Ala.
Before long, however, Ala’s production center distinguished itself. In 1657, two Genoese velvet weavers, fleeing their city, found refuge here. Archpriest Don Alfonso Bonacquisto and, more notably, the most famous member of the Taddei family, Gianbrunone, seized the opportunity. With the help of the two craftsmen, they opened in Ala the first velvet manufactory that same year. Other families soon followed suit, and Ala’s velvet quickly gained immense success across the territories of the Empire.
In addition to the craftmanship’s high quality, Ala’s velvet producers were able to offer cost-effective products, as many companies managed the entire production chain—from silkworms to fabric. The peak of this phenomenon occurred in the first half of the 18th century. However, after a sharp decline at the end of the century, production remained steady for most of the 19th century, eventually ceasing with the outbreak of World War I, marking the end of a significant chapter in the region’s economic history.