Villa Carlotta

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Villa Carlotta
Charlotte of Prussia (1831–1855) , Italian: Carlotta
Villa Carlotta, fountain
Villa Carlotta, stairs

The Villa Carlotta is a summer residence of the 18th century in Tremezzo on Lake Como , Lombardy , Italy. Today it serves as a museum and is surrounded by a spacious and multi-segmented park. It had been in the possession of the Princely House of Saxony-Meiningen from 1850 until the Italian state confiscated it after the First World War .

history

Construction of the villa began in 1690 under the Milanese banker Giorgio II Clerici. It was completed under his son Antonio Giorgio Clerici. When he died in 1768, granddaughter Claudia Clerici inherited the villa. In 1801 she sold the villa to Gian Battista Sommariva, who sought a political career in the Cisalpine Republic (1797–1802). However, when Napoleon preferred Francesco Melzi d'Eril to him, his political ambitions ended and he devoted himself increasingly to the expansion of the garden and the expansion of the art collection. He died in 1826 and his son Luigi as early as 1838. The inheritance was divided between his wife Emilia Seillière and numerous relatives, so that the villa had to be sold in 1843 to Marianne von Oranien-Nassau (1810–1883), Princess of the Netherlands and, from 1830 to 1849, to Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1809–1872) married. Marianne von Oranien-Nassau gave the villa to her daughter Princess Charlotte of Prussia in 1850 for her wedding to Georg II of Saxony-Meiningen. The villa remained in the possession of the von Sachsen-Meiningen family until the outbreak of the First World War. It was placed under Italian state supervision on August 15, 1915. As a German citizen, the artistic director Max Wundel had to leave the villa during the war. The interests of the owners were taken care of by the Swiss consulate.

A twelve-year battle broke out over the return of the confiscated villa. In 1921, the Como Province Treasurer informed the owner's administrator that the entire property had become the property of the Italian state. The value of the villa was given in the "Damage report by His Highness ..." as 8,762,500 marks. In 1927 the final decision of the Italian state was made that the villa would be transferred to the Italian state due to its high national value. After the confiscation, the Ente Autonomo Villa Carlotta was founded, who takes care of the maintenance and care of the villa and the garden.

villa

The villa, built by the Clerici family in the classic 18th century style, was renovated in the Directoire style under Count Sommariva. He had the eaves fitted with a balustrade and vases, and the risalit crowned with a clock above the loggia . The villa stands on the top of five terraces that were created in the slope. A double staircase with decorative balustrades leads from the lakeshore over the terraces to the villa.

The interior of the villa is now a museum. In addition to furniture from the time of the various owners, the collection shows works by Canova , Thorvaldsen , Migliara and Hayez .

garden

The entire park covers an area of ​​approx. 8 hectares and consists of different sections. Immediately around the villa, facing the lakeshore, is the Italian garden with cut hedges and pergolas with orange and camellia trees . The rhododendron and azalea garden spreads up the slope . The bamboo garden offers over 25 types of bamboo on an area of ​​3000 m². The Sachsen-Meiningen family expanded the garden to include a rock garden and an English garden with rare trees and an artificial gorge.

gallery

  • Putto with dolphin

  • Detail of the park

  • Landing on the second terrace

  • Short visit to the garden of Villa Carlotta

literature

  • Ludwig Bechstein : Villa Carlotta. Poetic travel pictures from Lake Como and from the Lombardy-Venetian lands . Bernhard Friedrich Voigt, Weimar 1857, p. 260 . ( Digitized in the holdings of the British Library )
  • Judith Chatfield: The Most Beautiful Italian Gardens. Cologne 1991.
  • Carlo Ferrario, Sandro Chierichetti: Como and its lake - masterpieces of art and architecture, villas and gardens. Brunner & C .: Como 1985. (63 pages)
  • Attilio Sampietro: Villa Carlotta. Menaggio 1992.

Web links

Commons : Villa Carlotta (Tremezzo)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Thuringian State Archives Meiningen , Hofmarschallamt: Letter from the consul in Milan of August 2, 1916. In: The administration of the Villa Carlotta regarding correspondence 1915-1924 . (HMA 316)
  2. ↑ Thuringian State Archives Meiningen, Hofmarschallamt: factual account of the damage report. in: Villa Carlotta 1852–1930 . (HMA 304)

Coordinates: 45 ° 59 ′ 11 "  N , 9 ° 13 ′ 51.3"  E