Villa Carlotta

The history of Villa Carlotta, where art is matched with nature in an enchanting landscape, embodies over three hundred years of great collecting. Overlooking the shores of Lake Como, the Villa was built in the late 17th century by the Marquis Giorgio Clerici of Milan. In 1801 the property passed to Giovanni Battista Sommariva, a great collector of artworks, in particular sculpture, who bought a series of masterpieces by the leading artists of his time, including Antonio Canova, Bertel Thorvaldsen and Francesco Hayez. In 1843 the Villa was sold by the Sommariva heirs to Princess Marianne of Prussia. In 1850, she gave the residence to her daughter Charlotte (known in Italy as Carlotta) on the occasion of her marriage to Georg II Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. Despite Princess Carlotta's early death in 1855, George continued to spend periods in the Villa on Lake Como. He enriched the park with many rare botanical species that can still be seen today.

Preserved from the 17th century is the large Italian garden with tall, geometrically cut hedges, balustraded parapets, statues and water features. From the Romantic period, the structure of the English landscape garden can still be perceived, studded with fine, well-grown trees and offering striking views. Dating from the late 19th century is the great plant architecture with imposing masses of rhododendrons, azaleas and rare species, making the park of Villa Carlotta a true botanic garden.

During World War I the Villa was confiscated by the Italian state and its management entrusted to the Ente Villa Carlotta, established by Royal Decree in 1927.