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Villa Balbianello is on the wooded promontory of Lavedo (or Balbianello), on the western shore of Lake Como. The villa was built at the end of the XVI century, allegedly designed by Pellegrino Tibaldi and commissioned by Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio.
It was later enlarged by Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini, in the second half of the XVIII century.
The building consists of two square bodies overlooking the lake, which were partially built on the remains of a XIII century Franciscan convent.
In the upper area of the property, there is the loggia, which is the focal point of the large XVIII century park that overlooks the two sides of the promontory: the gulf of Diana, towards Comacina Island, and that of Venus, towards Tremezzo.

During the first decades of the XIX century, the villa was a property of Count Luigi Porro Lambertenghi and became a point of reference for the regional coal industry and a safe harbor for revolutionaries. In the following years, it was acquired by the noble Arconati Visconti family from Milan and, thanks to Donna Costanza – the wife of Marquis Giuseppe – the villa became once more an important meeting place for writers and intellectuals such as Alessandro Manzoni, Giovanni Berchet and Giuseppe Giusti. The villa was then abandoned until 1919 when it was purchased by the American general Butler Ames; he then sold it again in 1954, to the famous explorer Guido Monzino: the National Trust for Italy (FAI) eventually inherited it when he died in 1988.

The main entrance consists of an area surrounded by a curved wall, decorated with three statues of saints, including Saint Carlo Borromeo blessing the waters.
A staircase leads to the churchyard of the small chapel which, in turn, is followed by a path through large plane trees (pruned as chandeliers), alternated with ancient statues and wisteria – all the way to the top of the promontory.

THE GARDEN

The garden still retains the original layout designed by Count Monzino, with a series of sloping grass carpets delimited by box hedges (Buxus sempervirens) and laurel (Laurus nobilis).

Villa Balbianello blends perfectly with the lake in a most elegant continuum; an elegant landing stage with a splendid wrought iron gate offers the secondary entrance to the villa, surrounded by rhododendrons and azaleas – wondrously blooming in late spring.
Today, the villa offers one of the richest libraries dedicated to mountaineering and polar expeditions. In the attic, there’s a small museum with interesting memorabilia and memories of Count Monzino’s expeditions.

The three arches of the loggia are covered by an impressive centuries-old specimen of Ficus pumila: this climbing plant, originally from China and Japan, has adapted incredibly well to the mild climate of Lake Como.

WORTH KNOWING:

This villa and its garden were used to shoot some scenes of “Star Wars Episode II – Attack of the clones” (2002) and “007 Casino Royale” (2006).

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)