Villa Carlotta is a place of rare beauty: here masterpieces of nature and human ingenuity coexist harmoniously in 70,000 square meters of gardens and museum facilities.
In a natural hollow, between the lake and the mountains, Marquis Giorgio Clerici had a splendid residence built at the end of 1600, imposing but sober, surrounded by an Italian garden, in front of a breathtaking scenery on the Dolomites Grigne and Bellagio.
With Gian Battista Sommariva, the next owner, the villa reached the height of its splendour, enriching itself with works of art and becoming a must-see destination for a visit on Lake Como. Sommariva, who acquired the property in the early nineteenth century, wanted part of the garden to be transformed into an extraordinary romantic park and the villa to be embellished with masterpieces by Canova, Thorvaldsen and Hayez.
The park of Villa Carlotta is famous for the amazing spring flowering of rhododendrons and azaleas in over 150 varieties. However, every period of the year is suitable for a visit: ancient specimens of camellias, cedars and sequoias, immense plane trees and exotic essences are offered to visitors in an alternation of settings created over the centuries by the garden architects.
