After the birds and the cypress tree, we headed into the 16th century villa, which was kind of a starter mansion for the Borromeo family. They lived there for about 100 years before building the massive palace on Isola Bella.
Carol was starting to have a rough time from the heat. I suppose it was her turn on Monday after my bad go on Saturday in Milan. She didn't get hit as hard as I did, but she decided she had to blow through the villa quickly, because the air is quite still inside. For some reason they didn't think to open many windows to let some modest air flow happen. It's never good on a hot day when indoors is hotter than outdoors.
The villa was interesting, to a point. And that point was when I got to room after room of creepy marionettes. I suppose if you are interested in that kind of thing, it would be interesting, but it's not to me.
Before that point, however, the various rooms -- reception room, seasons room, Venetian lounge, the Library, and more are beautifully decorated. The bedrooms feature canopy beds.
The Borromeos were bankers in Milan after 1370. Vitaliano de' Vitaliani became count of Arona in 1445 and really got the family influence going. There is a document from 1501 that transferred the islands to the Borromeo family, but they transferred the island to another family in 1520. In 1563, Renato Borromeo reacquired the property, and they have owned it ever since. That's when the villa was built.
Gustave Flaubert called Isola Madre "The most voluptuous place I've seen in the world," primarily for the gardens and trees, not for the villa, but it was a quick walk-through of interest.
1 comment:
Where are the pics of the creepy Marionettes?
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