Before Villa Gallia, this same plot of land in Borgovico held “Il Museo”: one of the first private art galleries in Italy, created by the humanist Paolo Giovio to display his own collection of portraits of illustrious men.
Built between 1537 and 1543 with light, provisional materials, Paolo Giovio’s “Museo Gioviano” - bishop and historian at the courts of Rome and the Medici - deteriorated rapidly, so much so that in 1615 Abbot Marco Gallio, nephew of Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio of Villa d’Este, had its remains demolished to build, set further back from the shore for greater stability, the present-day Villa Gallia: the oldest surviving residence on Via Borgovico.
In 1815 the architect Simone Cantoni - the same designer behind Villa Olmo - oversaw its extension to the south and its update in neoclassical style, commissioned by that same Caroline of Brunswick who was transforming Villa d’Este in Cernobbio in those very years. Further work on the exterior decoration and the boathouse was carried out at the end of the nineteenth century by the engineer Robecchi for Baron Sabino Leonino. Inside, the great salon preserves frescoes attributed to the Recchi family of painters, with scenes devoted to the flight of Aeneas from Troy and to the history of Rome, alongside an imposing fireplace in red Arzo stone and black Olcio marble.
Purchased by the Municipality of Como in 1957 and today home to offices of the Provincial Administration, Villa Gallia opens its lakefront garden - once shared with the neighbouring Villa Saporiti - at set times, offering visitors free access, a rarity among the great historic villas of the Lario. Since 1998 the garden has also housed “Medusa”, a sculpture by Domenico Paladino dedicated to the memory of Gianni Versace.