Lake Como.
Lenno.
Villa del Balbianello is in Lenno 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. After the cardinal’s death in 1796 Giuseppe Arconati Visconti bought the villa and made improvements to its gardens and the loggia.
In the nineteenth century the villa belonged to the Porro-Lambertenghi family. The writer and patriot Silvio Pellico was a visitor in 1819.
By the early twentieth century the buildings had fallen into a state of neglect when an American businessman, Butler Ames, purchased and renovated the villa and its garden. 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).
Lenno is located about 60 kilometres north of Milan and about 20 kilometres northeast of Como. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,800 and an area of 9.6 km².
Lenno borders the following municipalities: Bellagio, Bene Lario, Grandola ed Uniti, Lezzeno, Mezzegra, Ossuccio, Porlezza, Tremezzo.
The most exciting attraction in Lenno, by far, is Villa Balbianello. Now a museum, its interiors exhibit details on the extraordinary lifestyle of one of Italy’s richest men and last owners of the villa – Guido Monzoni.
You can also visit two interesting churches dating back from the 11th and 12th centuries – the Church of San Stefano and San Battistero and the Abbazia dell’ Acquafredda.
Lake Como ( Lago di Como ), also known as Lario is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 square kilometres (56 sq mi), making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over 400 metres (1,300 feet) deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe, and the bottom of the lake is more than 200 metres (660 ft) below sea-level.
Lake Como has been a popular retreat for aristocrats and wealthy people since Roman times, and a very popular tourist attraction with many artistic and cultural gems. It has many villas and palaces (such as Villa Olmo, Villa Serbelloni, and Villa Carlotta). Many famous people have or have had homes on the shores of Lake Como, such as Matthew Bellamy, Madonna, George Clooney,Gianni Versace, Ronaldinho, Sylvester Stallone, Julian Lennon, Richard Branson, Ben Spies, and Pierina Legnani. Lake Como is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful lakes in Europe.

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