Built between 1902 and 1905, until 1964 it was the headquarters of the Finance office (“Intendenza di Finanza”), the land registry (“Catasto”) and the customs (“Dogana”), so it was given the name “of the fears”. The palace was used as a school until a few years ago, and then it was renovated to become a museum and reopened in 2012. The complex also includes the adjacent porticoed building, built in 1902 by the architect Adriano Gazzari. After the restoration, the main entrance was located between the archways connecting the Lungolario to XX Settembre square, underlining the dialogue between the building and the museum with the city.

The Palace of Fears was built in an eclectic neo-medieval style. The characteristic elements of this style are the rusticated perimeter of the ground floor and the rectangular tower, built around 1926, which bears the coat of arms of the Visconti family and a three-mullioned window facing the Cermenati square. Today the Palace of Fears houses temporary exhibitions on the ground and first floors, while the second floor houses the Municipal Art Gallery – Contemporary Art section of the Si.M.U.L., previously located in Villa Manzoni.

The second floor is also home to the Graphics and Photography Section, where materials from the Si.M.U.L.’s collections are cyclically displayed.

The third floor houses the Lecco Mountaineering Observatory and the “Polo della Montagna”.