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Villa SerbelloniSuggestive monument which stand on the promontory of Bellagio where, according to the legend, Plinius the Younger owned a villa called Tragedia (tragedy). The original building dates back to the fifteenth century, when the local economy was simply based on fishing and the cultivation of vines and olives. Villa Serbelloni was built for want of the son of the Marquis Stanga, but later enlarged and restored at the hand of the Sfondrati family. The Sfondrati's owned the villa until 1788, when it passed to the rich and powerful Serbelloni family. During the XIX century the property was marvellously embellished with precious decorations and oeuvres made between the XVII and the XVIII centuries, as part of the furnishings. The Serbelloni redesigned the wide park - considered one of the most interesting in Italy – with valuable plants and trees like rhododendrons, cypresses, sequoias, beeches and rare exotic species that, especially in autumn, create an incomparable show of colours! You will find caves, sculptures, remains of medieval walls and, on top of the promontory, the ruins of an ancient Romanesque church located inside old boundary walls, and dedicated to St Peter Apostle. Back to the park you will admire lovely edges that model the terracing and typical flowerbeds, drawn geometrically with scarlet flowers. Unfortunately, during the Risorgimento, the villa was totally abandoned and, towards the end of the XIX century, turned into a hotel. In 1930, an American princess bought the villa and donated it to the Rockefeller Foundation of New York, in 1959. The property is now used from the foundation as conference and study centre, so that you can only visit the amazing gardens. The park of Villa Serbelloni is open to visits from 1st April to 31st October - two guided visits per day, from 11 am to 4 pm, 30 people maximum – closed on Monday. You will be able to book a visit, fifteen minutes earlier, at the I.A.T. box office located in Piazza della Chiesa di San Giacomo, Bellagio.
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