Villa Alari, Cernusco sul Naviglio, Italian noble residence in Cernusco sul Naviglio, Italy
Villa Alari is a three-story noble residence in Cernusco sul Naviglio, featuring vaulted ceilings and wall decorations made from gilded plaster and painted designs throughout its rooms. The building sits on Via Camillo Benso di Cavour and can be viewed from the outside, though the interior is not open to the public.
Giacinto Alari commissioned the villa from architect Giovanni Ruggeri, with construction beginning in 1703 and concluding between 1719 and 1725. From 1771 to 1775 Archduke Ferdinand of Habsburg, governor of Austrian Lombardy, rented it as a summer residence with his consort Maria Beatrice d'Este. After Saulo Alari died in 1831 the estate passed to Count Ercole Visconti di Saliceto, and in 1944 Countess Valentina Visconti di Saliceto left it to the Fatebenefratelli Hospital.
The interiors are painted with mythological scenes created by artists of the time with great care. Visitors walking around the outside can catch traces of this decoration on the facade and through the windows.
The villa stands on Via Camillo Benso di Cavour, its main facade facing the courtyard of honour and the road toward Milan. The interior is not open to the public, so visits are limited to the exterior. The long perspective avenue that once crossed the gardens beyond the Martesana canal survives only in Marc'Antonio Dal Re's 1743 engravings.
The original garden was laid out in the French style with geometric shapes, fountains, and a large pond, of which only faint traces remain today. This design shows how noble houses of the time treated the land around them as an extension of the residence itself.
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