Pietro Paleòcapa (Greek: Πέτρος Παλαιοκαπάς, Nese, 11 November 1788 – Turin, 13 February 1869) was an Italian scientist, politician and engineer.

[2] Paleocapa was born in Nese, Alzano Lombardo, from a family of Greek origins who had moved to Bergamo after the Ottoman conquest of Crete.

He served for two years in the Napoleonic militia, and in 1817 he joined the Venetian Engineers of Water and Streets Corp, dealing in particular with hydraulics; he worked on railways, tunnels and waterways, contributing significantly to the construction of many essential infrastructures, including the fortress of Osoppo in Friuli.

He was a patriot and believed in the Italian unification, and he played an important role in the negotiation of the annexation of Venice to Piedmont.

While he was in Turin, he promoted railway development with the aim of linking the Italian markets beyond the Alpine arc, working in particular on the design of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel.