Villa di Maria Callas, Villa in Sirmione, Italy

Villa di Maria Callas is a private house on Via Caio Valerio Catullo in Sirmione, Italy. It sits close to Lake Garda, with a yellow facade, a garden, and a small swimming pool shaped like the lake itself.

Giovanni Battista Meneghini, a businessman from Verona, bought the house in the early 1950s as a holiday retreat for himself and Maria Callas. After their divorce and her relationship with Aristotle Onassis, she left Sirmione and the property was later sold.

A plaque on the outside wall names Maria Callas and Giovanni Battista Meneghini, and passersby often stop to read it. In summer, the town holds concerts and gatherings that keep her connection to Sirmione alive for both residents and visitors.

You can view the house from the street at any time, and the area around it is easy to walk. The building is not a regular museum, so access inside is limited to special events, which are announced locally.

The small swimming pool in the garden copies the outline of Lake Garda, a detail that visitors often miss from the street. According to local accounts, the singer liked to walk along the lakeshore alone, enjoying the breeze away from the stage.