Since the beginning of the XVII century it belonged to the family of the painter and sculptor Paolo Emilio Besenzi, who was born there. The original installation of the 1600s has been enlarged and modified many times. Between 1790 and 1810 renovation work on a project of the Architect Domenico Marchelli were executed. The current work is clearly of neoclassical inspiration with the attachement of a floor and a gable. In the occasion, the location of the garden was also taken care of. Inside the mansion there was also a private chapel dedicated to S.Maria. Around 1830 there was another intervention, work of the Engineer and Architect Luigi Poletti from Modena, with the creation of the dome and of the tympanate pronaos. In 1865 the mansion went to the Gazzoli and in 1874 to the Levi. Arrigo Levi rearranged the building at the beginning of the 1900s, age to which the inner decorations in Liberty style date back. In 1956 it was bought by the Pelosi and lastly, in 1970 by the University of Bologna, that after a general restoration, designated it as the university location.