Pliny the Younger had a house on Lake Como and this is one of the
possible sites of his Villa Tragedia. Leonardo da Vinci came here for a
wedding and left a message 'These trips should be made in the month of
May.' He was correct. Stendhal wrote that "higher up, the sacred wood of
the Sfrondato and the bold promontory, sparating the two arms of the
lake .. a sublime
and enchanting spectacle, which the most renowned sight in the world ...
does not surpass'. Villa Serbelloni is on the rocky and wooded
promontory of Bellagio which divides lake into two legs. The Villa is
surrounded by 20 hectares of park and garden. The house was built c1600
for the the Sfondratis family, who owned the promontory. In 1788 it was
bought by a Milanese family, the Serbellonis, and redesigned. In 1959
the estate was given to the Rockefeller foundation (by Ella Walker, the
Principessa della Torre e Tasso) as a conference centre and
international study centre for scholars and artists. The lower part of
the garden is informal parkland with a long winding drive leading to
the main house. The upper garden is wooded and has a belvedere with a
fine view of the Lecco branch of Lake Como. The formal section of the
garden, near the house, was laid out in the 18th century and has curved
terraces with topiary flowers and shrubs. A small garden has a fountain
dedicated to Pliny the Younger (Cecilio Plinio).
Photograph © Oxford Botanica/Adam Hodge
Photograph © Oxford Botanica/Adam Hodge
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