Villa d'Este

Villa d'Este has been a hotel since 1873. The villa was built between 1565 and 1570 for Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, to a design by Pellegrino Tibaldi, at the mouth of the Garovo stream, where a convent had stood.

In 1815 it was bought by Caroline of Brunswick, wife of the Prince of Wales, who named it Villa d'Este and remodelled it in neoclassical style. The U-shaped building has a long front towards the lake with a large terrace on arches; inside are the staircase with its marble columns and a Cupid and Psyche from Canova's workshop. The hotel has 151 rooms and suites in the Cardinal's Building and the Queen's Pavilion; the park also contains four private villas, the nymphaeum of stucco and pebbles known as “il Mosaico” and the avenue of Hercules.