Villa Olmo

Villa Olmo, the most important of Como’s historic residences, was built between 1782 and 1787 at the behest of Marquis Innocenzo Odescalchi, and designed by the Swiss Ticino architect Simone Cantoni. It was built on the site of a medieval monastery, which itself stood on what is thought to be the site of an ancient Roman villa.
Acquired by the Municipality of Como in 1925, Villa Olmo conceals beneath its neoclassical forms an ancient heart and is a good example of the stratified nature of a city that was first home to Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger, then of Paolo Giovio, and later of Alessandro Volta.