Name of Monument:

Villa Crespi

Name in original language:

Villa Pia

Location:

Orta San Giulio (Novara), Italy

Responsible Institution:

Since the 1980s, Villa Crespi has been transformed in a 4-star hotel owned by the 'Villa Crespi-Ca.pri srl'

Date of Monument:

1897

Architect(s) / Master-builder(s):

Angelo Colla

History:

Cristoforo Benigno Crespi was a successful businessman active in the cotton industry. In 1879, he bought an estate near Lake d’Orta (Piedmont, Northern Italy), to build a vacation house in honour of his wife, Pia Travelli.

Crespi had fallen in love with the architecture of Baghdad, where he went to buy cotton, and asked architect Angelo Colla to build for him a villa in Moorish style. Architect Enrico Combi designed the magnificent park.

After it was inaugurated, the villa became a centre of high-society life: it hosted members of the Italian royal family and even the King of Spain. The Crespi organised theatre performances in the park and invited nobles, industrialists and bankers. At the end of the 1980s, Villa Crespi was transformed into a four-star hotel.

Description:

An astonishing three-storey villa in Moorish style, near Lake d’Orta in Piedmont, Northern Italy. It features a 48-meter high minaret and has richly decorated interiors made with lavish marbles imported from several countries. Construction lasted 12 years. The estate includes a greenhouse, a wet dock, stables, a big fountain, an annex, and is surrounded by walls with valuable wrought iron gates.

Citation of this web page:

Ignazio Galella "Villa Crespi" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;AWE;it;1;en;N

Database entry origination:

Prepared by: Ignazio Galella
Copyedited by: Anne Dowell

MWNF Working Number: IT1 001