Lake Como and its villas tour

Built between 1898 and 1901 under the direction of architects Angelo Savoldi and Giovan Battista Borsani, this majestic villa initially belonged to the Erba family, chemists from Milan. Carla, the daughter of Luigi, first owner of Villa Erba, married duke Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone; their son, the well known film director Luchino Visconti, also spent some time in this mansion and worked here at the editing of his movie "Ludwig".

The villa was built in 1787 by cardinal Angelo Maria Durini; later, it was bought by a Milanese politician, who hosted artists and intellectuals such as Alessandro Manzoni, Giovanni Berchet and Giuseppe Giusti.

Built between 1808 and 1810 for Francesco Melzi d'Eril (1753-1816), Duke of Lodi, Vice President of the Italian Republic under Napoleon and then Grand Chancellor of the Napoleonic Reign of Italy. The English-style gardens were designed by the architect Luigi Canonica and by the botanist Luigi Villoresi.

This village, which could even have been founded in the 6th century B.C. by Gauls, has been an exclusive leisure location since the Roman age: Virgilius and Plinius visited the site, the latter even owning a summer residence in the town. Many gorgeous villas have been built in Bellagio and its surroundings throughout the centuries, for example Vill Serbelloni (15th century), now a property of the Rockefeller Foundation.

This Baroque mansion, surrounded by a magnificent garden which also hosted, in the 19th century, such artists as Gustave Flaubert and Stendhal, was commissioned by Marquis Clerici. Here, a collection of neoclassical works of art (Antonio Canova, Bertel Thorvaldsen and Francesco Hayez) and furniture dating back to that period, is kept.

This small village, on the Western coast of lake Lario, is well known for its public gardens, designed by rationalist architect Pietro Lingeri, and for Villa Carlotta, a Baroque mansion surrounded by a magnificent garden which also hosted, in the 19th century, such artists as Gustave Flaubert and Stendhal.