House, staircaises and garden in Italian style
built by Marquis Clerici in the XVIII century, partially modified
by Count Sommariva according to the Neoclassical
style.
In the Villa you can admire the original forniture and many fine
works of art. Landscape garden laid out by the subsequent owners,
the Dukes of Sachsen Meiningen. Wide views on the middle of the
lake, Bellagio, the Grignas peaks, the Legnone.
The building of the Villa was begun in 1690 by the Milanese
Marquis Giorgio Clerici (1648 - 1736), an authorative personage
at the time of the Spanish and then Austrian domination. The founder
of this family was born in 1489 in Domaso, a small town in the north
of Lake Como. The Clericis accumulated a great fortune thanks to
their long-standing trade of textile merchants.
Their social and economic prestige was then increased
through a series of royal grants. The beginning of their wealth
was due to the silk merchant and bankier Giorgio Clerici (1575-1660), known as Giorgione. He brought and restored the palace
Visconti situated in the S. Protaso district (nowadays known as
Clerici avenue) in Milan. His first-born Pietro Antonio (1599-1675)
was titled as Marquis. His brother Carlo (1615-1677) inhereted numerous
palaces in Milan, in Ninguarda and in Brianza area. These fabolous
properties were subsequently inhereted by his son Giorgio II who
built the Villa of Tremezzo. In 1717 he was nominated as President
of the Senate. Once he died and after the death of his son Carlo
Francesco and that of that of his grandson Carlo Giorgio (captain
and grandee of spain, fallen in a battle near Belgrade under Eugenio's
of Savoia arrays), the 21 years old great-grand son Antonio Giorgio
(1715-1768) inhereted the immense fortune of his great-grandfather.
The construction of the Villa of Tremezzo was completed.
Antonio Giorgio, a man of great
intelligence and generosity, became Baron of Sozzago, Marquis of
Cavenago, Knight of the Golden Fleece, milanese patrician and owner
of a regiment of infantry. Devoted to the military career, he was
General of Artillery in 1746 and lieutenant Marshal in 1755. He
was wounded during the campaign against Frederick the great in 1756
and consequently he laid down his arms to embark on the diplomacy.
Antonio Giorgio ordered to Tiepolo the frescos depecting "The
Fight of the Sun in the Olympus" of the very large ceiling
(about 119 square meters) in the residential palace of the Clerici
family in Milan. During his intense existence, Antonio Giorgio dissipated
the wealth he had inhereted. He died in 1768. The Palace of Milan
became the seat of the law-court and nowadays it belongs to the
Italian state, while the Villa Simonetta is a music school. Claudia
Bigli Clerici, AntonioGiorgio's daughter, was the last of the Clericis
to possess the Villa of Tremezzo. She sold it to Giambattista
Sommariva in 1801.
Virtual Tour of Villa
Carlotta
For more information visit the official website of Villa Carlotta : www.villacarlotta.it
