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The Villa Lita, also called Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta is a 16th-century rural palace and park located in
The villa was initially commissioned by Count Pirro the First Visconti Borromeo in the second half of the sixteenth century, build atop an older property. The count also built and conceived the Nymphaeum, designed by Martino Bassi and used to exhibit a collection of paintings, sculptures and curiosities. The mosaic decorations were designed by Official site of the Villa
The Villa Lita, also called Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta is a 16th-century rural palace and park located in Lainate
Lainate ( ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan.
Lainate borders the following municipalities: Caronno Pertusella, Origgio, Garbagnate Milanese, N ...
, just north of Milan, in the Province of Milan
The province of Milan () was a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Milan. The area of the former province is highly urbanized, with more than 2,000 inhabitants/km2, the third-highest population density among Ital ...
, 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. It is known for its elaborate Nymphaeum
A ''nymphaeum'' (Latin : ''nymphaea'') or ''nymphaion'' (), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs.
These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...
integrated with water works and games.
History
The villa was initially commissioned by Count Pirro the First Visconti Borromeo in the second half of the sixteenth century, build atop an older property. The count also built and conceived the Nymphaeum, designed by Martino Bassi and used to exhibit a collection of paintings, sculptures and curiosities. The mosaic decorations were designed by Camillo Procaccini
300px, ''Nativity'' by Camillo Procaccini
Camillo Procaccini (3 March 1561 at Parma – 21 August 1629) was an Italian painter. He has been posthumously referred to as the ''Vasari of Lombardy'', for his prolific Mannerist fresco decoration.
Bo ...
, and the painter il Morazzone
Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli (commonly known as il Morazzone; 1573–1626) was an Italian painter and draughtsman who was active in Milan. He is mainly known for his altarpieces, but his outstanding achievements are large decorative frescoes ...
depicted the Mercury of the entrance hall.
Giulio Visconti Borromeo Arese, last heir of the dynasty, decided in the 1720s to build the "Quarto nuovo", closing the entrance courtyard, with a ballroom on the main floor. The Marquis Pompeo Litta, nephew of Giulio, in the 1750s rearranged the landscapes and hired Giuseppe Levati to decorate the dining room with stucco and frescoes. In the 19th century, the landscapes were rearranged to create an English landscape design, by Luigi Canonica
Luigi Canonica (Tesserete, Canton Ticino, 9 March 1762 – Milan, 7 February 1844) was a Swiss architect and urban planner whose prominent career as an exponent of Neoclassicism was spent largely in Milan and Lombardy. He was the designated archit ...
.
The first restoration and re-activation of the water features are owed to Alberto Toselli who bought the property in 1932; however, the acquisition by the City of Lainate (1971) has opened the structure to the public.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Litta Lainate Villas in Lombardy Gardens in Milan 16th-century establishments in Italy