Palazzo Pfanner was built in the second half of the 17th century and belonged to the Moriconi family, members of the merchant nobility of Lucca. After the bankruptcy of the family, the Palace was sold to other noble merchants, Controni, who were engaged in the silk trade. Controni expanded the building, added to it a monumental staircase, presumably, by local architect Domenico Martinelli. In the early 18th century they commissioned Filippo Juvarra to do the planting of the garden behind the Palace, and for the painting of the arches of the Palazzo and the stairs were invited by local artists. This building Controni took the Danish Prince Frederick during his big trip to Italy.

About the middle of the 19th century owners of the old Palace became the Pfanner family — it Felix Pfanner, an Austrian brewer, bought the Palace after the founding of the first in Lucca and one of the first in Italy Breweries. The brewery is located in a cute building between the gardens and the rooms of the Palazzo, was closed in 1929.

The Palazzo is still the property of Pfanner family, which at the end of the 20th century was reconstructed the building and opened it to the public. Thanks to its charming architecture, the Palazzo several times became a shooting location for films, including it shot a number of scenes of the film "the Portrait of a lady" with Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich in the lead roles.

The Baroque gardens of the Palazzo Pfanner also attracts many visitors with its lawns, colourful flowers, trees and lemons in clay pots, standing along a row of statues depicting Greek Olympians and the seasons. At the intersection of two main paths of the garden there is an octagonal fountain, and elegant Limonar with two lions and basilisks on the roof — the emblem of the family Controni - adorns that part of the garden, where growing boxwood, Laurel, two ancient bamboo, yew, pine, Magnolia and roses.

Tourists can explore only a small part of the Palazzo Pfanner, where there is a large reception hall, decorated with frescoes of the 18th century, and several side rooms with antique pieces of furniture and a wooden statue of the Archangel Michael of the 14th century.

At the Palazzo, the exhibition of surgical instruments and ancient medical treatises collected by Pietro Pfanner, surgeon, philanthropist and mayor of Lucca from 1920 to 1922.