Villa Reale or Villa Comunale (Royal Villa – Belgioioso)
Villa Reale or Villa Comunale is a neoclassical palace and park in Milan, one of the most important monuments of this style in Lombardy.
The Royal Villa of Milan – formerly called Villa Belgioioso or Villa Belgioioso Bonaparte, is a villa built between 1790 and 1796 in Milan by the architect Leopoldo Pollack on behalf of Count Ludovico Barbiano di Belgioioso.
A few years later, still unfinished, after the death of Count Ludovico Belgioioso, the villa was bought by the Italian Republic and became Napoleon’s residence.
The emperor and his family were occasional guests during their visits to Milan.
The villa became the permanent residence of Eugenio di Bogarne, Napoleon’s adopted son, appointed viceroy of Italy in 1805, and his wife Princess Augusta of Bavaria. The viceroyal couple made great adjustments to the interior, which led to the luxurious decoration of the villa.
With the return of the Austrian government to the city – the building became the property of the Austrian viceroys as well, Marshal Joseph Radetzky, who signed the Peace of Milan in 1849, by which the city was ceded to Austria. After the Second War of Independence, the villa became available to the Savoy Crown.
Villa Reale, in the heart of Milan, was the scene of sumptuous receptions and balls in the early 19th century. Unfortunately, the masterpieces of painting and the villa’s splendid furnishings were removed by the French during the Napoleonic era and are now in the collections of museums in Paris. But what remains is a cosy English-style garden and painted rooms.
The villa is now a museum.
Nineteenth-century Romantics, Milanese Scapigliatura, sculpture by Pablo Troubetzky, a collection of Impressionist paintings by Renoir, Manet and Van Gogh, all this is the Villa Reale.
