Tremezzo, like Lenno, is part of the municipality of Tremezzina and is mainly known for the beautiful Villa Carlotta, with its must-see botanical garden.
The construction of the mansion was commissioned by Giorgio II Clerici, an important politician, whose descendants sold it to Gian Battista Sommariva for financial reasons in 1801.
Sommariva, who was a great art collector, enriched the rooms with masterpieces by the most important artists of the time, including the sculptor Antonio Canova.
He loved this place so much that when he died, he chose to be buried inside the family Oratory, an elegant neoclassical structure near the villa, where you can still admire the funeral monument created for him by Pompeo Marchesi.
In 1850, the mansion passed to Princess Charlotte of Prussia, whose name – Carlotta in Italian – it still bears today, and, thanks to interventions by her husband, Duke George II, Prince of Saxony-Meiningen, the park was enlarged and transformed into the jewel it still is today.
If, in addition to Villa Carlotta, you have time to visit Tremezzo, I recommend that you do not overlook other fascinating places, such as the historic downtown, which you can discover by climbing the narrow streets that rise up the hill, or the Teresio Olivelli Municipal Park, also called Parco Meier, a small public garden that hides a monumental staircase among century-old trees, complemented by an elegant fountain, and a graceful octagonal building called the Tarocchiera.
Here's an interesting fact: during the 17th and 18th centuries, it was common for theatres, courts and noble residences to have rooms reserved for playing cards. In the Olivelli Park, originally part of a villa, four wealthy local families decided to have a small building constructed to play with special cards called tarocchi, or tarot cards, from which the building Tarocchiera took its name.
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