358 



THE GARDENS OF ITALY. 



375. BALBIANELLO : THE LOGGIA ON THE SUMMIT. 



escaping here . from 

 the oppressive solemnity 

 of the great hotel 

 into which the old villa 

 has been converted. 



Higher up the lake, 

 and facing Bell agio, 

 which marks the division 

 of the lake, the lower 

 part being known as 

 Como and the upper^as 

 Lecco, lies theJvilla 

 Carlotta, which belongs 

 to the classicist period. 

 The house is well 

 terraced up from the 

 lake shore, starting from 

 an enclosure of piers and 

 gates of fanciful outline 

 (Fig. 373). On the left 

 is the family chapel. 



This is a small, irregular octagon inside, covered by a dome. The villa was built in 1747 by 

 Giorgio Clerice. To the Sommariva family it must owe its present form and style of the early 

 nineteenth century. In 1843 it passed to Princess Albert of Prussia, and takes its name from 

 her daughter Charlotte, who died in 1855. 



376. BALBIANELLO : THE LITTLE HARBOUR AT THE BASE. 



