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Immersed in the tranquil countryside of the Valcuvia, a valley in the foothills of the Alps on the Lombard side of Lake Maggiore, this elegant complex has expanded around its sixteenth-century nucleus over the centuries. It was a sort of Domus Magna - the focal point of a small farming settlement - including some typical rural outbuildings, like a gigantic wine press, an ice house, cellars and stables, which are still largely intact today. It was in the latter part of seventeenth century that the aristocratic landowners, the Della Porta family, ceased their activities as notaries and dedicated themselves to administering their real estate holdings. They decided to build a new structure connected to the "Manor House", extending around a formal court and looking out over a garden of rather modest size for the times.
It was not until the first years of the eighteenth century that the place was transformed by Gian Angelo III from a "villa-farmhouse" to a refined and prestigious residence, with its own private chapel. Intending to adorn the beautiful family seat with a striking park, he entrusted its design to the "painter and engineer" Antonio Maria Porani, who, with the help of a good number of artists, also frescoed the interiors.
After the death of Gian Angelo III in 1745, his sons, finding themselves in dire straits financially, were forced to sell the property, which was later re-acquired by his grandson, Giuseppe Porta, who devoted himself to a careful restructuring of both the Villa and the Park - years of neglect having reduced them to a state of advanced decay. When the lineage became extinct the Villa changed hands several times before being purchased by Senator Camillo Bozzolo in 1877. And it was the Bozzolo family, after a period of abandonment and plunder, who finally donated the complex (with the exception of a few lodgings, which remain to the family in usufruct) to the FAI in 1986.
Thanks to generous funding, the latter was able to carry out the necessary interventions so that the property could be opened to the public, and in the last few years has also executed imPortant structural interventions, specifically involving the restoration of the minor facades and the reclamation of the outbuildings, some of which have been turned into exhibition spaces and conference/event venues. The interiors of the Villa retain very little of the lavish original décor, which was stolen and looted, repeatedly and conspicuously. |
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(Ph. © Michele Russo) |
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Because the space in front of the Villa was insufficient, the Park was developed lengthwise, from the lowest to the highest point, parallel to the building's façade.
Four ample terraces were created on various levels, linked by staircase with banisters, statues and fountains in stone from Viggiù. After these comes the "theatre", a large lawn running slightly downhill, bordered by an ample fish pool and a steep path (once probably lined by cypresses) that plunges into the woods and winds along the hill - known as the Belvedere - to the edge of property. In addition, it was decided to create a new line of perspective, perpendicular to the principal one, which would start from a fresco of Apollo and Daphne, located on a wall of
The small "Secret Garden".
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 (Ph. © Giorgio Majno) |
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Simultaneously with the creation of the Park, the Villa was also completely adorned with refined decorations, both a fresco and in tempera.
The Formal Court was enriched with false windows and Portals to match the exuberant interior décor, mostly in floral motifs inspired by the Rococo ethos of artifice "that trumps reality". A repertory of quality and enormous fantasy, which is repeated on the precious doors of the striking Long Gallery and Main Hall, a formal reception area where oval garlands frame portraits of some of the Porta family's menfolk who lived between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.
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(Ph. © Mario Govino) |
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Among the few exceptions are the splendid canopied beds in the bedrooms on the main floor, dating from the eighteenth century (some were completed recently by the FAI) and covered in precious fabrics, as well as the wooden furnishings in the Library, made in the early eighteenth century: the shutters, the doors, the imposing desk and the great walnut bookcases, which hold more than 2.000 volumes, mostly dealing with Medicine, which Camillo Bozzolo practiced in the second-half of the nineteenth century.
It was only thanks to benevolence of enlightened donators that the Villa has been able to recover, over the years, the warmth and atmosphere of a true aristocratic mansion. In fact, many works of art and decorative objects from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries have been donated and placed in the Villa's rooms, in an attempt to re-create the original ambience.
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VILLA DELLA Porta BOZZOLO, Casalzuigno (Varese)
Ph. +39 0332 624136 / Fax +39 0332 624748 / E-mail: faibozzolo@fondoambiente.it
Opening Times
MARCH-SEPTEMBER: 10 am - 6 pm. /
OCTOBER, NOVEMBER and second half of FEBRUARY: 10 am - 5 pm.
CLOSING DAYS: Mondays and Tuesdays (unless public holidays) /
GROUPS and school visits: welcomed on Tuesdays with prior booking
/
LIBRARY: opened on Sunday only (and on prior booking for groups) /
LAST ENTRANCE: half an hour before closing.
FURTHER INFORMATION >>
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