Lante: Standard of Perfectionism

A beautiful villa with a fountain-park ensemble appeared here in the middle of the 16th century, when the aqueduct water was brought to the hill. But it acquired the features familiar to us today only under its next owners — Cardinals Giovanni Gambara and, subsequently, Alessandro Montalto. To the first of these two ministers of the church we owe the appearance of amazing fountains and the construction of one of the two park palaces. I must say, Giovanni Gambara spared no expense on the development of the territory, it is believed that he invited the famous architect Giacomo da Vignola to carry out the work, according to other sources, hydraulic engineer Tommaso Ginucci was engaged in the construction of the fountain complex, Wikipedia says that he arranged firecracker fountains in the park. Be that as it may, the landscaping of the architectural fountain complex went with all the luxury allowed to the cardinal, but such waste came to an end when the Archbishop of Milan, Carlo Borromeo, known for his asceticism, arrived at the villa on a visit. He stopped the embezzlement of church funds, recommending Cardinal Gambara to use the wealth for charitable causes, the construction of a church or monastery. Therefore, the villa acquired its finished appearance only under its next owner, who continued the development of the park, and built a second palazzo, mirroring its predecessor, and decorated the palaces with frescoes. The villa acquired the name Lanthe later, after the last owners of the complex, who owned the villa for about three hundred years. But the former creators of the wonderful park with fountains and pavilions left elements of the coats of arms of both surnames in the architectural design: cancer ("gambero") from the heraldic image of the Gambara branch and a mountain with a star from the Montalto line. #trip #flowerlover #garden #park #italy