Como, celebrities’ Lake
Who, visiting Lake Como, has never imagined meeting George Clooney, the Hollywood star who has owned the splendid Villa Oleandra in Laglio since 2002?
All kinds of things have been said about Clooney… that he decided to buy Villa Oleandra after breaking down with his motorbike near the estate, that he met his wife Amal on the lake, that he decided to sell his villa to move elsewhere (but it was false!) and much more!
Yet George is not the only “VIP” to have fallen in love with Lake Como, which has actually been frequented by celebrities for several centuries! It may be the spectacular views, the mild climate, the typical cuisine or the beauty of the region, the fact is that no one seems to be immune to the charm of the Lario.
From Julius Caesar to Napoleon, passing through the Romantics
Como was refounded in 59 BC. by Julius Caesar (as Novum Comum), probably to encourage Roman expansion. However, there is someone who sentimentally claims that Cesare was bewitched by the beauty of Lake Como, to the point of creating a fortified center on its shores.
It was certainly the Romantic intellectuals who were enchanted by the Lario, such as Stendhal – a frequent visitor to Villa Melzi in Bellagio – and Lord Byron. If Byron gave his name to a modern hydrofoil, it was Stendhal who wrote that “this lake is sublime“, characterized by “enchanting places without equal in the world” and by “delightful” landscapes where “everything speaks of love”.
Perhaps it was for this reason that even Napoleon and his family frequented Villa Olmo in Como, as did, years later, the queens of Naples and Sardinia or the Austrian emperor Ferdinand I.
Two fans of the lake: Don Abbondio and Frankenstein!
Instead, it was at the Villa del Balbianello in Lenno that Giuseppe Mazzini, Silvio Pellico and Alessandro Manzoni repeatedly spent their holidays; the latter made the Lario famous with his “The Betrothed“, which events start right from the Lecco branch of the lake.
Among the personalities in love with these places we even find Mary Shelley; it is said that some settings of his “Frankenstein“, although set on Lake Geneva, drew inspiration from the wonderful panoramas of Como!
Lake Como as a source of inspiration
Lake Como was also a source of inspiration for many Italian and European composers. Franz Liszt, for example, wrote: “When you write the story of two happy lovers, place it on the shores of Lake Como. It is a place blessed by Heaven, I have never seen another where the enchantments of a life of love can appear more natural”.
Obviously there are many Italians: Gioacchino Rossini, several times guest of Giuditta Pasta in Blevio, or of the Belgiojoso family (related to the Belgiojosos of Villa Fisogni) in Torno; Giacomo Puccini, regular visitor to Vacallo; or even Vincenzo Bellini, who composed his “Sonnambula” in Moltrasio.
The “Red Carpet” passes through Como…
Coming to the present day, we find famous directors and actors who, centuries after the ancient writers, still remain fascinated by the shores of Lake Como.
George Clooney, sure, but not only him. Luchino Visconti, for example, loved to spend his summers in Cernobbio, at Villa Erba.
Directly from Hollywood, we can mention Richard Gere, Tom Cruise, Anthony Hopkins, Denzel Washington or Robert de Niro. Or even Madonna, Catherine Zeta Jones, Michael Douglas, Brad Pitt, Cindy Crawford and Matt Demon!
In short, choosing to spend your holidays in an exclusive villa on Lake Como is a truly unique and unrepeatable experience, worthy of the greatest celebrities of all time!
Marco Mocchetti