Villa Litta Carini, Baroque villa in Orio Litta, Italy.

Villa Litta Carini is a baroque noble residence in the centre of Orio Litta, built from the second half of the 17th century. Count Antonio Cavazzi della Somaglia commissioned it from architect Giovanni Ruggeri; his heir Antonio Dati enlarged the palace, completed by his son Antonio Giovanni Battista in 1749. The central block now holds a permanent antiques exhibition on two floors.

Count Antonio Cavazzi della Somaglia, eighth count and baron of Somaglia, commissioned the villa from architect Giovanni Ruggeri; on his death in 1688 it passed to his great-nephew Antonio Dati, who took the Somaglia title. Dati enlarged the palace, finished by his son Antonio Giovanni Battista in 1749. Sold in 1824 to English industrialist Richard Holt, who installed a silk mill, it went in 1852 to the Milanese Litta Visconti Arese family after court rulings in Lodi.

The villa's name carries the Litta family, Milanese nobles who bought the complex in 1852 and gave the village of Orio Litta the second half of its name. Today the two floors of the central block hold a permanent antiques exhibition, and the halls serve as a venue for weddings and conferences.

The villa stands in the built-up centre of Orio Litta, so it can be reached on foot from the village streets. It is used for weddings, conferences and events, and the two floors of the central block hold a permanent antiques exhibition. Check access arrangements before travelling, since opening depends on the event calendar.

The Litta family held the villa only briefly and sold it under heavy debts, yet in that time King Umberto I and Giacomo Puccini stayed here. Before them, the English industrialist Richard Holt had installed a silk-spinning mill in the palace after buying it in 1824.