The villa was built for the Austrian Governor of Milan, the archduke Ferdinand of Hapsburg and his wife Beatrice d’Este, as a royal summer home. The job of constructing the villa was awarded to the royal architect, Giuseppe Piermarini in 1777, and was completed in just three years.
Thanks to recent renovation of the main body of the villa, which is made up of the ground floor, the noble first floor, the noble second floor and a belvedere, visitors can now fully enjoy the palace in almost all its entirety.
The Gardens of the Villa and the Park, of approximately 40 hectares, are a priceless system of scenic, historical, monumental and architectural value. Set in an extremely built-up area, it also fulfils an important role from a natural-ecological point of view: it is a unique lung for the surrounding area, but also a refuge for many species of plants and animals.
