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Guest Houses, Hotels, Golf Resorts, Châteaux, Villas
When visiting Italy,
be it for golf or any other itinerary, your accommodations
are an important part of a memorable vacation. The properties shown here
are just some of our favorites. In each, our clients are extended a level
of unsurpassed service. Whether your idea of the perfect vacation includes
stays in castles, five-star hotels, country homes or inns, JERRY QUINLAN'S
CELTIC GOLF can help you plan the trip of a lifetime.
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Grand Hotel Villa D'este
Location
Set on the shores of Lake Como, the Hotel is located in one of the
most important crossroads between Italy and Northern Europe. This
ancient Villa of the XVIth century is surrounded by a 10-acres of
private park and gardens.
History and Art
Built in 1568 by architect Pellegrino Tibaldi, known as "Il Pellegrini",
as a private residence for Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, it was considered
one of the finest examples of architecture and landscaping. Between
its construction and its conversion into a hotel in 1873, Villa
däEste (consisting of the Cardinaläs Palace and the Queenäs Pavilion,
built in 1860 and later named in honor of Caroline of Brunswick,
Princess of Wales) has a colorful and checkered history. Its residents
included Jesuits, generals, the estranged wife of a future king
of England, European aristocracy by the score and even a czarina
of Russia. Now it is listed as one of the top resort hotels in the
world. Besides centuries-old trees and its Italian pattern, the
park is remarkable for its several monuments: the celebrative Nymphaeum,
designed by Pellegrini, architect of the Villa, which opens to the
water system flowing through the magnificent Hercules perspective;
the Renaissance bas-reliefs inside the Nymphaeum hemicycle, completed
in 1894 by sculptor Francesco Somaini with two others on the themes
of Solitude and Embrace; the temple of Love; the Fortifications,
faked military constructions, built on the hillside by the wife
of general Domenico Pino to honor his heroic Spanish campaign; the
terraces above the Queenäs Pavilion with a magnificent view of the
lake and of the swimming pool floating on the water, unique in Europe;
the trompe läoeil facades of the Queenäs Pavilion frescoed in the
19th century. Inside the main Villa, worthy of note is the monumental
portico, now the hall, with its stucco colonnade and beautiful furniture
(Russian and Empire). In the Columns Room paintings by G. Serangeli
(Pirro and Polissena, 1800) and by early 19th century French school
(Agar and Ismael in the Desert, the Flood, a copy of a detail of
Michelangeloäs Creation); works by Canova (in the homonymous room),
of Appiani and of the Valle däIntelvi Masters (in the Napoleon Room).
The Bar decorated with Neoclassical statues and the verandah with
its glass-screen that disappear into the ground complete the list
of rooms of artistic interest. |
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