Villa Carlotta is a place of rare beauty where masterpieces of nature and human genius stand together in perfect harmony within the enchanting gardens and museum facilities.

This late-sixteenth century residence is an imposing yet discreet building, surrounded by Italian gardens with statues, steps and fountains. It was Gian Battista Sommariva who, in the eighteen hundreds brought the villa to the height of its splendour, enriching it with masterpieces by Canova, Thorvaldsen and Hayez and transforming it into a genuine temple of nineteenth century art, the gardens of which abound with rhododendrons and azaleas and are perfect for a romantic stroll. In the mid-nineteenth century the estate was donated by Princess Marianne of Nassau to her daughter Charlotte, after whom the villa is named, on the occasion of her wedding with Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen.