The Scrigno del Duomo Restaurant and Wine Bar is located in Piazza Duomo, Trento, one of the most beautiful squares in Italy. The Wine Bar is located on the ground floor, at the same height as Piazza Duomo today while the Restaurant is housed in the basement, at the height of the square during Roman times. The entrance is through a wrought iron gate into a spacious courtyard. Here in the spring and summer months, you can sample wines and dine at the outside tables with a wonderful view of the Fountain of Neptune in the centre of the square. This area is in part paved in glass to allow the remains of the old city underfoot to be admired (eighteenth century well and walls dating from the Roman period). The Scrigno del Duomo opened its doors in 1999 after major renovation work was carried out on the former “Casa Balduini”.

Architectural features such as the portal with a pointed archway on the façade overlooking the square and cathedral, and the sequence of Gothic windows on the second floor indicate that the building dates back to Medieval times. In the second half of the fifteenth century the building was already a single unit as testified by the frescoes which appear over the entire surface of the old façade. Given the lack of reliable sources, it is impossible to attribute with certainty the frescoes of Casa Balduini to one or more painters. During renovation work, burials and remains were found which confirm the existence of craftsmen’s workshops during Medieval times. The discovery of a major fresco with lobed squares and animal figures from the late fourteenth century, along with fragments of frescoes of the same age as the façade, give us some idea of the splendour of the building during Renaissance times.

The restoration project combined renovation work with the integration of existing features, creating a balance between tradition and innovation in the search for a precise expressive, formal identity. Some of the most characteristic features are: the Roman wall, the structure of a well and graffito artwork by Senesi which when restored provided the spacious vaulted room with plenty of light. The project to furnish and fit out the "Scrigno del Duomo" Restaurant and Wine Bar was pursued in the light of this painstaking research, in an attempt to weave together the history of the building with contemporary style. Still lifes by Albino Rossi, the grape vine by Luciano Zanoni, terracotta panels by Alessio Tasca, photographs by Flavio Faganello, as well as an abstract work by Luigi Senesi and drawings by Othmar Winkler vibrate in the silent space. Prints by Mandrian embellish the present-day “Sala Golf” (Lodola). These important works of art all contribute to making this restaurant unique.