Villa d'Este (Cernobbio) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Villa d'Este |
|
|---|---|
Villa d'Este as seen from Brunate
|
|
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Renaissance |
| Town or city | Cernobbio |
| Country | Italy |
| Coordinates | 45°50′41.91″N 9°4′47.64″E / 45.8449750°N 9.0799000°E |
| Completed | 1570 |
| Client | Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Pellegrino Tibaldi |
The Villa d'Este, originally called Villa del Garovo, is a beautiful Renaissance style house. It is located in Cernobbio, a town on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy. The villa and its large park, which is about 25 acres (100,000 square meters), have changed a lot over time. It started as a summer home for a Cardinal (a high-ranking church official) in the 1500s. Since 1873, this grand place has been a luxury hotel.
Contents
History of Villa d'Este
How the Villa Began
In 1442, a church leader named Gerardo Landriani, who was the Bishop of Como, started a place for nuns here. It was built near the Garovo stream. About 100 years later, another important church leader, Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, decided to build his own home on this spot. He had the nunnery taken down.
Cardinal Gallio hired a famous architect named Pellegrino Tibaldi to design his new house. The Villa del Garovo, along with its amazing gardens, was built between 1565 and 1570. While the Cardinal lived there, it became a popular spot for important people. These included politicians, thinkers, and other church officials. After Cardinal Gallio passed away, his family took over the villa. Over many years, the house and gardens started to fall apart a bit.
Changes Over the Years
From 1749 to 1769, the villa was used by the Jesuits, a religious group, for special spiritual retreats. After that, it was bought by a few different wealthy families. In 1784, the Calderari family from Milan bought it. They did a lot of work to fix up the villa and created a new Italian-style park. This new park had a cool water feature called a nymphaeum (a grotto with fountains). It also had a temple with an old statue of Hercules.
Later, the wife of Marquis Calderari, Vittoria Peluso, married a general named Count Domenico Pino. To honor him, a pretend fortress was built in the park.
In 1815, the villa became the home of Caroline of Brunswick. She was the wife of the future King George IV of England. She loved the place and wrote in her diary that its garden seemed "suspended in the air" and was "a scene of complete enchantment." She renamed it Nuova Villa d'Este and had the park redesigned in the English style.
Becoming a Hotel
In 1873, the villa was turned into a fancy hotel for rich people. It kept the name Villa d'Este to connect it with the famous Villa d'Este in Tivoli, which is near Rome. In 1925, the famous movie director Alfred Hitchcock even filmed parts of his movie The Pleasure Garden at the hotel.
Villa d'Este Today
Today, the Villa d'Este is still a very fancy hotel. It is known for being a place where wealthy people stay and where important meetings happen.
It has received many awards. In June 2009, Forbes magazine called it the best hotel in the world. In 2014, Travel + Leisure magazine said it was the second-best resort in Europe.
Every May, the hotel hosts a special car show called the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. This show, which started in 1928, features very old and unique concept cars. In September, the hotel holds the annual Ambrosetti Forum. This is a big meeting where important people from politics, money, and business come together. It has been held there every year since 1975.
