{"id":19790,"date":"2022-12-04T21:08:54","date_gmt":"2022-12-04T18:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wowitaly-weddings.com\/villa-balbianello\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T13:25:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T10:25:46","slug":"villa-balbianello","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wowitaly-weddings.com\/en\/villa-balbianello\/","title":{"rendered":"Villa Balbianello: Love and stars on Lake Como"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lake Como is known throughout the world for its breathtaking landscapes and luxurious historic villas scattered along its shores. Villa Balbianello<\/strong> is one of the most famous and recognizable, not least thanks to Hollywood directors who have been unable to resist its beauty.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Villa Balbianello: A Bit of History<\/span><\/h2>\n

The picturesque villa emerged at the end of the 18th century thanks to Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini, who had originally planned to purchase the island of Comacina about one and a half kilometers to the west, but could not agree on a price. As a result, the country residence had to be built at the very edge of the Doso d’Avedo peninsula, right on the ruins of a medieval Franciscan monastery, of which the church fa\u00e7ade and two bell towers still survive.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Later, the villa changed owners several times and was even abandoned for as many as 30 years, until in 1919 it was purchased by Butler Ames, the son of Edelbert Ames, an American general from the Civil War era. The new owner thoroughly restored the dilapidated villa and tidied up the park.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1974 the ownership changed once more, and it was acquired by Guido Monzino, the famous explorer and mountaineer who led the first Italian expedition to Everest. He bequeathed Villa Balbianello to the National Trust of Italy (FAI), to which it still belongs today. The villa consistently tops the list of the Trust\u2019s most visited sites. In 2022, over 150,000 people visited, breaking the previous record set in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Territory<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

All visitors arriving by boat are greeted by a Latin inscription engraved on the floor of the portico leading to the dock: Fay ce que voudras (“Do what you will”), which was placed here by its first owner, Cardinal Durini.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Villa Balbianello complex consists of the villa itself, the Durini loggia, a church, a park-garden, a portico, and a small dock.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The interiors of the villa are imbued with the spirit of adventure and can tell much about its last owner, Guido Monzino. True to the nature of an explorer, he brought back numerous trophies from his expeditions and assembled a large collection of ethnic artifacts and artworks from various cultures. Antique English and French furniture from the 17th\u201318th centuries also made its way here thanks to Monzino.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The upper floor of the villa serves as a museum entirely dedicated to the famous explorer. Here you will find numerous photographs, awards, and memorabilia of Monzino, including one of the eight sleds he used to reach the North Pole.<\/span><\/p>\n

The building of the loggia houses the former music salon, which the last owner transformed into an office, and a library boasting over four thousand volumes dedicated to expeditions and mountaineering.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the assassination of Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades in 1978, Monzino began to worry about his own safety and connected all the buildings of the villa with secret passages.<\/span><\/p>\n

The villa\u2019s particular pride is, of course, its luxurious panoramic garden-park, which cascades down to the water in terraces. Although the park\u2019s area is relatively small, it offers a rich variety. Green lawns bordered by boxwood and laurel hedges, wisteria, plane trees, cypresses, azalea and rhododendron shrubs \u2013 all form a picturesque, evergreen backdrop for the villa. Special attention is drawn to the huge umbrella oak, which is regularly pruned by gardener\u2013alpinists using genuine mountaineering gear.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Do not confuse Villa Balbianello with Villa Balbiano, which is located nearby. Balbiano was built first and also belonged to Cardinal Durini. It is larger in size, so the cardinal\u2019s second villa was named Balbianello.<\/span><\/p>\n

Villa Balbianello in Film<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Camera, Motor!<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

George Lucas had an enormous budget and the entire world at his disposal to show us the beautiful planet Naboo, and he chose Lake Como and Villa Balbianello without hesitation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The famous kiss between Anakin Skywalker and Padm\u00e9 Amidala took place right here, on the villa\u2019s terrace overlooking Lake Como.<\/strong> The only thing Lucas changed was the villa itself. In the film, we see buildings enhanced with computer graphics, but the dock, where the boat carrying the heroes arrives, is the real dock of Villa Balbianello.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was also here that the secret wedding scene of Anakin and Padm\u00e9, which concluded \u201cStar Wars: Episode II \u2013 Attack of the Clones,\u201d was filmed.<\/span><\/p>\n