History
Villa San Carlo Borromeo. Its memory, its history, the intellectual enterprise: the beauty of its restoration
Villa San Carlo Borromeo, surrounded by an age-old Park, 12 km from the center of Milan, arises upon a man-made hill, the site of a Celtic settlement. The Romans subsequently built a stronghold , already exploited by Julius Caesar.
Then came the Longobards, who turned it into a fortress. And upon its ruins, the Visconti family erected the present -day “palace”, then enclosed on all four sides , in the fourteenth century. It was Federico Borromeo (1564-1631) that knocked one side down in 1629. In 1630, he hosted the theologians of the time at the Villa to safeguard them from the plague in Milan.
Further work was carried out by Giberto Borromeo (1671-1740) who completed its interior decoration, adding furniture, chandeliers and beautiful works of art to what Federico had already put in place. In his will, Giberto bound his heirs to respect both the restoration he had ordered and supervised, and the integrity of the furnishings.
In 1911, Fausto Bagatti Valsecchi supervised another lot of restoration work, according to the criteria of the time. It was commissioned by Febo Borromeo d'Adda.
During the Republic of Salò, the Villa was occupied by the SS, who caused serious damage. After they withdrew, two stars of David were placed on the facade of Sant'Ambrogio Museum, at one of the entrances of the Villa.
Over seven centuries, many famous figures have mentioned staying at the Villa, from Leonardo da Vinci to writers and artists connected to the Sforza family, from St. Charles Borromeo to Ippolito Pindemonte, from Diderot to Stendhal, from Alessandro Manzoni to Benedetto Croce, from Giovanni Verga to Luigi Pirandello and, more recently to Jorge Luis Borges.
In 1983, the Second Renaissance International University purchased the Villa and Park, neglected for over twenty years, from the Borromeo family. The terrace had collapsed, the roof was damaged all over, the walls were badly affected by damp, and the door and window frames were ruined. The park was almost completely overgrown.
The first substantial restoration work aimed purely to save the building.
Restoration has continued since then until today , along closely conservative lines, with the help of the experts , consultants, technicians, historians, philologists , engineers, specialists, architects and restorers, all under the supervision of the department of environmental and Architectural Heritage of Milan.
It has involved the Park, including the reintroduction, along strict philological criteria, of plants that had disappeared over the last two centuries; the main building (roof, terrace, attics, stones , bas-reliefs, stairs and stairways, rooms, bathrooms, halls, artistic interior walls and ceilings, semi-basements and basements); the three museums in the Park (Sant'Ambrogio, Sant'Eustorgio and San Protasio Museums); the Ice-House Museum; the boundary wall (Visconti Wall) and the three entrance gates (Porta Nina, Porta Pinta and Porta Santa Maria).
Painstaking , detailed historical, archaeological, philological, geo-physical, statical, architectural and pictorial studies have been carried out, collating the specific linguistics of this restoration each time: sculptures, fireplaces, arches, gates, coats of arms, statues, door and window-frames, balconies, doorways, doors, marble facings, drawings and paintings.
Engineering, lighting, telematics, cabling, furnishings and works of art have all been chosen and defined in every single detail, becoming an integral part of the restoration conceived as restitution in terms of quality. What has been achieved is a genuine enhancement of the monument, which today becomes the icon of the Second Renaissance, the palace of cultural and art tourism, and the intellectual, entrepreneurial and financial salon of Milan.
The restoration has involved close collaboration with architects, engineers, technicians and consultants; a search for artisans and specialized personnel throughout Italy, but especially in Lombardy, and the study of new technical and technological issues. Materials were chosen strictly among those already existing in the Villa: marble, gneiss, granite, painted cement and wood.
Within the 10,000 sq we have had three terraces rebuilt, the attics consolidated, the roofs, the garrets, floorings and underpinnings redone, vast semi-basements salvaged, and the Visconti Wall, the Children's Fountain and statues, mosaics and marble facings, galleries, stairs and bathrooms restored.
We have worked to restore the frescoes , the wood, the historical pillars and the three entrance gates, the fireplaces and all the details, including the other buildings in the beautiful and majestic park surrounding the Villa for fourteen hectares.
Today, the Villa is the headquarters of the Second renaissance International University, of Spirali publishing house of various cultural foundations. It is a venue for conferences, courses, seminaries and convivial meetings of public and private bodies, both Italian and foreign. It provides services to companies, brainworking, and is also the site of a permanent Museum and of a Museum for visiting exhibitions.
Cristina Frua De Angeli
General Manager
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