Villa Serbelloni
The Villa Serbelloni is a villa on a hill above Bellagio . It is now owned by the Rockefeller Foundation .
Already in Roman times there was probably a villa on the property, although not in the same place. Pliny the Younger describes it as "Villa Tragedia" because it was built on high walls, similar to the high heels ( Cothurni ) of the actors in classical tragedy. The exact location of this villa of Pliny has not yet been pinpointed. Theodoric is said to have rebuilt a fort, probably a simple tower, on the hill . Around 800, the tradition reports that Liutprant the Lombard built a mansion here. The fortress was destroyed in 1375 as it served as a base for robberies. In 1489 Marchesino Stanga († 1500), treasurer of Ludovico il Moro , acquired the peninsula from Daniele Birago and built a palace on the southern slope on the site of today's Villa Serbelloni. The tower of a church built between 1080 and 1100 was included, it is still the tower of the villa today. In 1493 Bianca Maria Sforza , Ludovico's niece , came here on her way to the wedding with Maximilian . In 1493 Stanga was given the Riviera fiefdom , making the villa the center of the rule. In 1533 Francesco II Sforza gave the fiefdom of the Riviera to Francesco Sfondrati and gave him the title of Count of Riviera . In 1538 he bought the destroyed villa from the daughters of Stangas and rebuilt it. One of his descendants, Hercules Sfondrati († 1637), had many buildings built on the peninsula. The villa remained in the family's possession until 1788, when Count Carlo Sfondrati, the last bearer of the name, died. He bequeathed the property to Duke Alexander Serbelloni out of friendship , but the rule remained with the government. He was actually the second builder of the villa and also designed the park. His brother was Gian Galeazzo Serbelloni . The descendant Ferdinand Serbelloni was field marshal (1835) in the Austrian army. His heirs leased the villa to a hotel owner. In 1907 it was sold to a Swiss company that ran it as the Grand Hotel . In 1930 Ella Walker (1875–1959), later wife of Alexander von Thurn and Taxis (Principe della Torre e Tasso, Duca di Castel Duino), bought the villa and converted it back into a private property. She lived here until 1959 and bequeathed the villa to the Rockefeller Foundation, which maintains the property and makes it available to science under the name "Bellagio Center".
literature
- Storia della Villa Serbelloni. Como 1962
- The history of Villa Serbelloni , City of Bellagio (ed., Without author), 1966
- Pilar Palaciá, Elisabetta Rurali: Bellagio Center - Villa Serbelloni. A brief history. Breve storia. Rockefeller Foundation 2009 full text
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pliny the Younger, Letter to Voconius Romanus, Book VIII.
Coordinates: 45 ° 59 ′ 13.1 ″ N , 9 ° 15 ′ 49 ″ E