Two twisting columns above the water. This watercolour captures Villa Monastero from the lakeside, looking towards the water and the two isolated spiral columns that rise from the garden terrace.
The columns, with their unusual helical form, stand like sculptural markers against the blue lake, creating one of the most distinctive and photographed views on Lake Como. Behind them, the villa's eclectic facade which is part monastery and part aristocratic residence.
Villa Monastero began as a Cistercian convent dedicated to the Virgin Mary, founded at the end of the 12th century on the site of the former Comacina Island community. In 1567, the convent was dissolved and the property was bought by Paolo Mornico, a wealthy iron merchant from Valsassina. His family transformed the convent into a residence, with Lelio Mornico completing the main villa in 1607.
Over the following centuries, the estate passed through the hands of Carolina Maumary (sister-in-law of Prime Minister Massimo d'Azeglio) and Walter Kees of Leipzig, who between 1897 and 1909 gave the villa its current eclectic Nordic style. In 1936, the De Marchi family donated the villa to the state, and in 1953 a conference centre was added. Today the villa is a museum, botanical garden, and international physics conference centre, having hosted more than 60 Nobel Prize winners including Enrico Fermi. The garden extends nearly two kilometres along the shore, with cypresses, palms, agaves, citrus, and exotic plants from around the world.
Interesting facts...
The two spiral columns are not original to the villa but were added during Walter Kees's early 20th-century renovation, giving the garden a surreal, almost theatrical quality. The building is now one of the most eclectic and flamboyant residences on Lake Como.
Enrico Fermi, father of the atomic age, lectured here during the summer physics courses. The villa became a gathering place for Nobel laureates and pioneering scientists.
The garden stretches nearly two kilometres along the shore, making it one of the longest private gardens on Lake Como.
The conference centre has hosted over 60 Nobel Prize winners, making it one of the most scientifically significant venues in Italy.
Location: Varenna, Lake Como, Italy
