Villa Charlotte

Villa Carlotta Lake Como: a place of rare beauty

Villa Carlotta's mission is to expertly preserve and enhance the rich historical, artistic, and botanical heritage of Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo . It aims to offer each guest a unique, personalized, and high-quality experience , immersing them in the extraordinary scenery of Lake Como.

Villa Carlotta is a treasure to be fully experienced by all who visit this area.

Villa Carlotta: prices and times

Opening hours 2024:

From March 22, 2024:

• Opening hours: 10.00-19.00
• Last entry: 18.00 pm
• Museum closing: 18.30 pm
• Closing of the garden: 19.00 pm

Until March 21, 2024:

• Villa Carlotta can only be visited by reservation by writing to segreteria@villacarlotta.it

Prices for visiting the villa

Single ticket :

• • Adult: € 15,00
  • Over 65 with identity card: €13,00
  • Student from 6 to 18 years: €6,00
  • Student from 19 to 25 years: €10,00
  • Children from 0 to 5 years: Free entry
  • Family (2 adults + 2 children from 6 to 18 years): €30,00
  • Residents of Tremezzina and Griante with identity card: Free entry
  • Membership card at the price of 70 euros: Free entry
  • With companion: Free entry

The history of Villa Carlotta

Villa Carlotta boasts a history of over three hundred years characterised by a great collection , in which art and nature blend in a landscape of undeniable charm.

Built at the end of the seventeenth century by the Clerici marquises of Milan on the shores of Lake Como , the villa passed in 1801 to Giovanni Battista Sommariva , a leading figure in the Government Committee of the Cisalpine Republic established by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Giovanni Battista Sommariva , thanks to his passion for the arts and in particular for sculpture , accumulated an impressive patrimony during his political career , which includes works by masters such as Antonio Canova and Berthel Thorvaldsen.

In 1843, the villa passed to Princess Marianne of Prussia, who subsequently donated it to her daughter Charlotte on the occasion of her marriage to Duke George II of Saxe-Meiningen in 1850. Princess Charlotte and Duke George II thus became the new owners of the villa.

Over the following decades, the residence was adapted to the family's needs and changes in taste, with renovations in the furnishings and decorations.

Architect Lodovico Pogliaghi played a key role in the restoration of the state rooms, where his talent transformed the spaces according to the aesthetic canons of the time.

Today, the results of these interventions can be admired in the rooms on the second floor of the museum, where the furnishings purchased by the owners are displayed.

Ernest , son of Duke George II, contributed murals to enrich the atrium of the Gallery with motifs from classical mythology . The precious friezes and painted wooden ceilings dating back to the Clerici era, rediscovered during the restoration of the rooms, are still visible .

Despite Princess Charlotte 's early death in 1855, Duke George II continued to enrich the park with rare botanical specimens, which can still be admired today. During the First World War , the villa was confiscated by the Italian state and entrusted to the Villa Carlotta Foundation , established in 1927 by Royal Decree.

Villa Carlotta Gardens

The Italian Garden

The Italian Garden Dating back to the time of the villa's construction, this part of the park features the distinctive features of a formal Italian garden : an axis of symmetry that runs through the garden up to the clock on the roof of the building, well-kept hedges , fountains , statues and geometric boxwood flowerbeds.

This style fits perfectly with the Enlightenment philosophy of the 18th century, in which rationality prevailed over sentiment and man dominated nature.

The Romantic Garden

The Romantic Garden Designed to amaze and excite visitors, the Romantic Garden extends over a larger area than the Italian garden.

Characterized by a series of theatrical environments masterfully created through the arrangement of plants and architectural elements, this garden enchants with its beauty and evocative charm.