ITALIAN VILLAS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

An iridescent disc of water, slightly rippled by the summer breeze and surrounded by blue mountains, a boat trip at sunset, a dip from the Nesso Gorge, hidden among the foliage, a lunch in the sun on the shore: this is Lake Como. The Hospitality sector and the Luxury world have made it a charming destination, and nature has done the rest.

This scenery, like so many other places in Italy, are not only fascinating for their history and beauty, but also intrigue us for their folk tales and the fact that they have often been chosen as the backdrop for the most exclusive and lavish events of celebrities and renowned Italian and international brands.?

This is the case with?Villa Erba, in Cernobbio, overlooking the lake, whose past, present and future are interwoven with religion, cinema and fashion.?

The French fashion house, Dior, presented its high end jewelry collection in collaboration with Victoire de Castellane, right in the villa's centuries-old garden, full of exotic species and extremely rare plants in bright colors.?

Between gala dinners, fashion shows, classical pianos and art, the fate of Villa Erba seems closely and inextricably linked to culture and social events. But originally it was sacredness and prayer that dominated the scene. The mansion was, in fact, a women's monastery. Hence the name of the location itself, Cernobbio, from " cenobio " meaning monastery.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the space was renovated and transformed into a park, before adding a project of a new and magnificent building, the so-called "Villa Grande," today Villa Erba, named after its patrons: the husband and wife Luigi Erba and Anna Brivio, who commissioned the architects Angelo Savoldi and Giovanni Battista Borsani. And so, from hand to hand, the property passed to the Erba couple's daughter, Carla Erba, who married Duke Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone in Cernobbio, becoming the family's vacation home. The fourth of their seven children was none other than neorealist director Luchino Visconti.?

The director spent part of his childhood and adulthood here, working on some of his most celebrated masterpieces from Ludwig, to The Leopard (1963). Although he never shot there, some of the sets recall the imprint of the villa, from the frescoed ceilings to the ballroom.?

"Cheerful days on the shores of the Lario," wrote the Milanese director, citing the prelate's name for Lake Como, "We would make plans with my brothers and the storm would break out on time. Chagrined we would remain in silence clinging to the windows already lined with rain. Sometimes we slept on the grass, in afternoon hibernation in a quiver of crickets and cicadas. In the evening we would hand our sleep-weary faces to our parents. Then autumn would come and we kids would be sad for the reopening of schools."

As Anna Gastel, the director's granddaughter, also later recounted, the house was beloved for the free family atmosphere there. Family and sibling cohesion has always been an important theme for Luchino Visconti, as his films also testify, where lunchtime was a time to be together and the relationship with the mother stands out in the foreground as something that determines life and the choice of true values.

On the notes of this familiar lexicon, let us now leave the threshold of Villa Erba behind, to review other Italian villas of similar fate.

Also on Lake Como, surrounded by palaces and architectural gems, stands?Villa Il Balbianello, set for several films including 007 Casino Royale, now owned by the FAI, not to be confused with the nearby Villa Del Balbiano.

Rich in beautiful Italian gardens, Baroque-era frescoes, and ornate furnishings, this villa was also once a religious site. It was built by Cardinal Angelo Durini in the late 1700s from the ruins of a Franciscan monastery.

Later the building became a meeting point for intellectuals of the time including Giuseppe Parini, Silvio Pellico, Giovanni Berchet and Alessandro Manzoni. There they were, intent on amiable conversation, in front of the lake, under the charming 18th-century three-arched loggia.

Nothing would make them envious of the members of the English Bloomsbury Group, who met, instead, at?Villa Cimbrone?in Ravello, in the province of Salerno: a terrace on infinity in complete harmony with the beauty of the Amalfi Coast. Here one breathes sea air, among art, politics and literature.?

Such a charming place, from the painted vaulted ceilings to the majolica floors, from the gardens to the statues, arranged along the edge of the cliffs, one cannot but recall a timeless fairy tale. It is no coincidence that it is said to have been the home of Lord Grimthorpe, the watchmaker behind Big Ben.

On the outskirts of Rome, majestic in the rosiest of golden hours,?Villa d'Este?in Tivoli is one of the symbols of the Italian Renaissance and now a UNESCO heritage site. The Italian-style garden is filled with fountains, true works of art, and water features of all kinds that forged its identity, at the behest of Lucrezia Borgia's son, Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este. In fact, most of the outdoor fountains can be considered water theaters, leading to the famous Viale delle Cento Fontane, Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Fontana del Bicchierone, and the so-called "musical fountains," which reproduce musical harmonies.?

Citing the Renaissance, we move on to Tuscany, where, in the Mediterranean scrubland in the province of Grosseto, lies?Villa Talamo, the historic property of an old nunnery and now owned by the Zampolli family, which has built a corner of paradise with a unique view of the Costa d'Argento, where it is also possible to stay overnight to enjoy the most spectacular moments of the place. The sand-colored building is surrounded by lush vegetation overlooking the water.

Heading south, you cannot miss?Villa Tasca?in Palermo, a neoclassical villa owned by one of the island's most important aristocratic families, rich in frescoes, historic furnishings and Murano glass chandeliers, frequented by Jacqueline Kennedy and appreciated by musicians of the caliber of Wagner and Verdi.

And finally, in perfect nuance with the jasmine blossoms,?Palazzo Nicolosio Lomellino?stands in the heart of Genoa. The garden, neatly arranged on several levels and dotted with grottos and nymphaea, is populated in summer with delightful purple agapanthus, and triumphant are the frescoed atrium dating from 1563, the facade in sky blue and white stucco, like the froth of the sea not far away.

And as we contemplate the horizon we are certain in our hearts of how many countless other stories are hiding from our view, between a golden gateway and a forgotten garden, we can only hope that we will soon be able to bring them to light with a new chapter of Hospitalitales.