Villa Carlotta

The villa was built at the close of the 17th century for Marquis Giorgio Clerici following the canons of late Lombard Baroque, with a symmetrical design that still dominates the front area with the Arion of Methymna fountain basin, the terraces with the famous collection of planted citrus trees, and the stone staircases.

The formal layout was partly reworked in 1801, when the property passed to G.B. Sommariva, a collector of Neoclassical works of art, some of which can still be admired in the Museum. Sommariva transformed large areas of the gardens by adopting the new canons of the English-style garden and placing the formal garden in a rural setting.

The next owners, Princess Marianne von Nassau (1843) and her daughter Charlotte, who married Duke Georg II von Sachsen-Meiningen in 1850, continued along these lines. The longitudinal avenues were decorated with rhododendrons and azaleas, a major attraction of the gardens in the spring.

Other features are of the same period the Old Garden with the Waterfall of the Dwarves, the Valley of the Ferns, the Rhododendron Wood and the rock garden. The most recent innovations include The Bamboo Garden and the Museum of Farm Implements.

The modern aspect of the complex has stayed the same it did not even change when the management was assigned to a non-profit corporation headed by Count Giuseppe Bianchini in 1927. Villa Carlotta has built up a refined botanical garden a census, in 2008, recorded the presence of 800 species and varieties, with 1,000 trees and many shrubs, including 400 camelias, 250 rhododendrons and 200 roses.

Info: www.villacarlotta.it

Villa Carlotta

Via Regina 2 22019 Tremezzo

Tel. 0344 40405

Email info@villacarlotta.it

Tratto da “I GIRADINI”, Grandi Giardini Italiani (www.grandigiardini.it) – CCIAA Como, Provincia di Como. Intera guida consultabile all’indirizzo http://www.co.camcom.it/guideturismo