Betsy's Briefings: Villa del Balbianello

Joy and I said if we could chose, this is the villa we would pick. Today, we visited the
Villa del Balbianello.

The Villa was built in the last years of the 1700's. It was home to a small Franciscan Friars' group, but the most important resident was the last one, Guido Monzino. He was a fervent collector and dedicated explorer. He turned the Villa into a private museum, where he collected and catalogued his travel memoirs, art pieces and souvenirs from his travel expeditions. These included one to the North Pole in 1971 and to Mount Everest in 1973, plus many others, as that was his passion.
He died in 1988 leaving no heirs, so in accordance with his will, the Villa, it's furnishings and magnificent gardens on the Lavedo peninsula were left to the FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano.). The FAI is a nation-wide, non-profit foundation established in 1975 with a precise objective: to safeguard Italy's natural heritage.
Today, we took a boat taxi around to the front of the Villa instead of walking a long hiking path part way round the mountain. Plus, the views from the boat were spectacular!

We got our tickets for the tour of the Villa, but it didn't start for another hour, so we toured the gardens.
Like the other Villas we have seen, the grounds and gardens were precisely manicured.

There are numerous statues throughout the grounds.

Some think this is an ideal place to do your wedding pictures.

We met our tour guide in the Loggia. A building outside the Villa that housed the library and the map room.

There were over 4000 books in the library, mostly about geography and travel.

The map room contained a rare collection of maps of the world including his many expeditions.

There were several levels in the Villa decorated with English and French furniture.

The walls were covered in silk fabric and there were chandeliers in every room.

There was also a collection of glass paintings.

The attic was converted to house Monzino's private museum, with equipment and memoirs from his travels, including one of the sleds used on his expedition to the North Pole.