The
Villa del Balbianello is a
villa in the
comune of
Lenno (
province of Como),
Italy, overlooking
Lake Como. It is located on the tip of a small wooded peninsula on the western shore of the south-west branch of Lake Como, not far from the
Isola Comacina and is famous for its elaborate terraced gardens.
The villa was built in 1787 on the site of a
Franciscan monastery for the Cardinal
Angelo Maria Durini. The two towers which can be seen in the picture are the
campanili of the convent church.
In 1974 it was bought by the explorer
Guido Monzino (leader of the first Italian expedition to climb
Mount Everest), who filled it with rich collections, including artifacts acquired on his expeditions. Monzino, who died in 1988, left the villa to the
Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano, the National Trust of Italy. Its grounds now form part of the
Grandi Giardini Italiani.
A number of
feature films have used the villa for
location shooting, including
A Month by the Lake (1995),
Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones (2002), and
Casino Royale (2006).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_del_Balbianello