VILLA DEL BALBIANELLO DE CÔME LOMBARDIE

Villa del Balbianello is a building located in Lenno, in the province of Como Lombardy.
The villa is located on the tip of the Lavedo peninsula, a promontory that moves to Lake Como and that right from the building has been named "Balbianello".
The complex is owned by the Italian Environment Fund (FAI).

The villa was built in 1787 on a pre-existing Franciscan monastery by Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini. At the death of the Cardinal, in 1796 he passed away to his nephew Luigi Porro Lambertenghi, who had as the rector of his sons Silvio Pellico. Subsequently, the property was acquired by Giuseppe Arconati Visconti who housed in his intellectual living room such as Giovanni Berchet, Giuseppe Giusti and Alessandro Manzoni. Giuseppe's son, Gianmartino Arconati Visconti, made improvements to the garden and the loggia, but the gradual decline of the house corresponded to a similar abandonment of the villa, which for more than thirty years was left to itself.

Villa del Balbianello fell into abandoned state until a US officer, Butler Ames, picked it up and renewed the garden. In 1974 it was acquired by explorer Guido Monzino, heir to the founding family of Standa, who furnished it with memorabilia from his expeditions. Monzino, who died without heirs in 1988, left the villa at the Italian Environment Fund.

source wikipedia

VILLA DEL BALBIANELLO DE CÔME LOMBARDIE

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