21Nov
Santa Cecilia concert at Lezzeno
The village's Corpo musicale celebrates the patron saint of music.
Lezzeno
Tremezzina
Villa Balbiano
Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio's late sixteenth-century villa, today a private house.
- Visit duration
- 1 h – 1 h 30
- Booking
- Required
- Area
- Centro Lago
- MollySVH · CC BY 2.0
Why go
Villa Balbiano stands on the shore at Ossuccio, on land once owned by the Giovio family.
Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio bought the property in 1597.
In 1637 Abbot Marco Gallio began turning the old house into a palace. Giacomo Gallio completed the building from 1664 and commissioned stucco decoration by Agostino Silva and frescoes by the Recchi. In 1787 the villa passed to Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini, who enlarged the house and garden and added a chapel, harbour and gallery. The façade, with grey stone ornaments and a rusticated doorway, faces the lake. The villa is private and can be viewed from the water.
- Halls with seventeenth-century frescoes by the Recchi and stucco by Agostino Silva.
- It can be seen from the water, like the other villas of the Tremezzina: the formal garden runs down to its own pier.
Getting there
- On the Regina main road at Ossuccio; C110 bus stop.
On the map
© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
What's on nearby
Events within a few kilometres, on now or coming up.
Nearby: places, experiences, services
Distances as the crow flies.
Sources and credits
Verified at source1 Oct 2026The Heritage Collectionopens in a new tab
- Maps, parking, services and distances: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- Freely licensed photographs: authors and licences under Photograph credits.
Sources and credits
Verified at source1 Oct 2026The Heritage Collectionopens in a new tab
- Maps, parking, services and distances: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- Freely licensed photographs: authors and licences under Photograph credits.