Villa d'Este (Cernobbio)

Villa d'Este
Villa d'Este as seen from Brunate
Villa d'Este is located in Italy
Villa d'Este
Villa d'Este
Location in Italy
General information
Architectural styleRenaissance
Town or cityCernobbio
CountryItaly
Coordinates45°50′41.91″N 9°4′47.64″E / 45.8449750°N 9.0799000°E / 45.8449750; 9.0799000
Completed1570
ClientCardinal Tolomeo Gallio
Design and construction
Architect(s)Pellegrino Tibaldi
Website
www.villadeste.com

The Villa d'Este, originally Villa del Garovo, is a Renaissance patrician residence in Cernobbio on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy, close to the city of Como. Both the villa and the 25-acre (100,000 m2) park which surrounds it have undergone significant changes since their sixteenth-century origins as a summer residence for Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, who had been born in the village. Visiting the garden in 1903 for Century Magazine, Edith Wharton found this to be ‘the only old garden on Como which keeps more than a fragment of its original architecture’, and noted that ‘though Queen Caroline anglicised part of the grounds, the main lines of the Renaissance garden still exist’.[1][2] It was Queen Caroline who gave it the name it has retained; it has never belonged to the d'Este family.

Since 1873, the Villa d'Este complex has been a luxury hotel which is a popular destination of Hollywood celebrities and elite billionaires for its ultra-luxurious amenities.[3][4][5]

  1. ^ Edith Wharton, Italian Villas and their Gardens (New York: The Century Co., 1905), p. 208.
  2. ^ Vivian Russell, Edith Wharton’s Italian Gardens (London: Frances Lincoln, 1997), pp. 15–17.
  3. ^ cnels2 (2013-07-13). "Villa d'Este, Hollywood on Lake Como". Timeless Italy Travels. Retrieved 2024-01-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Drinan, Christine (2021-06-16). "Villa d'Este - Where Hollywood Gets Married". Galavante (Travel & Lifestyle Website). Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  5. ^ Potter, Everett. "Villa d'Este On Lake Como: Luxury Defined". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-01-30.