Villa Castelbarco is a rural palace described as a ''villa di delizia'' which translates as ''villa of delights'', located just west of the Martesana canal and

Adda river The Adda (Latin: *Abdua*, or *Addua*; Lombard: *Ada*, or *Adda*) is a river in North Italy, a tributary of the Po. It rises in the Alps near the border with Switzerland and flows through Lake Como. The Adda joins the Po near Castelnuovo Boc ...

, just north of the town of

Vaprio d'Adda Vaprio d'Adda (Milanese: ; Bergamasque: ; locally ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, about northeast of Milan. Vaprio d'Adda borders the following municipalities: Trezzo sull'Adda, ...

, in the region of

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

, Italy.

History

Originally, the site hosted a

Vallombrosan The Vallombrosians (alternately spelled Vallombrosans, Vallumbrosians or Vallumbrosans) are a monastic religious order in the Catholic Church. They are named after the location of their motherhouse founded in Vallombrosa (), situated 30 km ...

monastery, with sustaining farms and a chapel to St Carpoforo. The general layout seems to reflect the cloisters of the former monastery. In a 19th-century description, it was called ''Villa Monasterolo''. These were repurposed by Count Giuseppe Simonetta (died 1733) with construction of a lodge. The monastic church was formulated as a family chapel, refurbished in

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style with a polychrome marble altar. The villa was transferred from the Simonetta to the Castelbarco family by the late 18th-century, when Francesca Simonetta married Count Cesare Castelbarco. This count pursued renovation of the buildings and surrounding area, which had been used as a hunting lodge in the past. In 1804, he expanded and decorated reception rooms, doubled the size of the south wing with the construction of a ''limonaia'' or

orangery An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...

. On the esplanade next to the terrace, he built two Empire-style palazzini used as museum and theater. The park with enhanced with benches and statuary. Between 1835 and 1837, Cesare's nephew, Carlo Castelbarco created in the basement a series of rooms with individual themes: Egyptian, Etruscan, Roman, Oceanic, and finely a room with a Renaissance or Raphaelesque theme. The rooms, often cave-like, were furnished with fountains with playful water jets and waterfalls. A guide from 1907 depicts in situ a Northern Italian sculpture collected by Carlo, now in the Cloisters collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

in New York. At the end of the nineteenth century, the villa passed to the Massimini family, then the Quintavalle in the early twentieth century, which occupied it until the mid-1960s. Currently the property is owned by a private company called "Barco art and culture center". It is used for cultural events and private functions.Comune of Vaprio d'Adda

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castelbarco Vaprio Villas in Lombardy Gardens in Milan Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan City of Milan