VILLA
pizzo

John the Baptist later became the bishop of Como was the last one to actually inhabit Villa Pizzo. A great number of the villa’s sublime neoclassical-style furnishings and small marble monument in the park owe him their existence. Later on, the Viceroy Ranieri of Hasburg, who made it the home for his wife Maria Elisabetta Savoia of Carignano and himself threw a tremendous investment in the gardens, where tidy paths, flower beds, and baroque fountains have become the perfect backdrop for the most epic Lake Como wedding portraits. On the western side, Villa Pizzo’s old dock opens onto the pool of Villa d’Este, while the new one, built by Bassani-Volpi, dominates the Moltrasio Basin to the peak of Torno. A small driveway offers a succession of exotic plants, aloes, orchids and other rare plants that climb from steep cliffs. In the middle of the park is a fountain in honor of Volta is surrounded by the ruins of a classical temple creating a magical ambiance. In 1865, the villa was bought by Madame Mousard, eccentric queen of the Parisienne parties, indicated by many as the favorite of King William of Holland, who probably donated it to her as a gift, while in 1871 the ownership passed to the Milanese Volpi Bassani family. Today Villa Pizzo with its ornate frescoed rooms is only available for wedding receptions, grand parties, fashion shows, and other cultivated events.