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Built in the second half of the fourteenth century by the Della Torre family, it was born with the purpose of fortification. The Castle of Rezzonico is a fenced castle, similar in type to the castle of Corenno Plinio in Dervio and the Castle of Vezio in Varenna. Inside, in fact, the houses and the tower were located.

The counts Della Torre, owners of the castle, were a family with a long dynasty. One of the most famous, Guido Della Torre, was an Italian chieftain and lord of Milan from 1302 to 1311. The genealogical branch separated around the ‘500. From Lake Como some moved to Genoa and Venice. A first Rezzonico documented in Venice was Aurelio, around the ‘600. His brother Carlo in Genoa. They had a good economic fortune thanks to their interest in the financial activity. They accumulated a great fortune by maintaining excellent relations with the Genoese merchant class.

In 1665 the emperor Leopold I appointed the brother barons of the Holy Roman Empire, rewarding them for good business managed in his name. They began to invest their immense capitals in the Republic of Venice, buying political titles and a palace on the Grand Canal. Ca ’Rezzonico, frescoed by Tiepolo, became the emblem of the ascent of the family.

One hundred years later, another Rezzonico was honored by becoming Pope Clement XIII. He gathered the whole family in Rome. The Venetian branch of the Rezzonico family died out. Currently, and for over a century, it is owned by a French family. It is not open to the public except for weddings and private events. But Rezzonico is an ideal destination for a peaceful trip far from the chaos of mass tourism. Rezzonico is one of the perhaps less known villages of Lake Como, but it is among the most intimate and welcoming. It boasts a strategically privileged geographical position.

The famous Villa Balbianello and Villa Carlotta, in Tremezzo, are about ten kilometers away. Located a few kilometers from Menaggio it faces Varenna. It has a stony beach little frequented even in summer, a short lakefront with a small harbor and, inside the village, narrow lanes that creep in between arcades and small arches. What is striking about Rezzonico is the tranquility that one breathes when walking at a slow pace through cobbled streets or sitting on a bench and getting some sun by the lake. Here, you can relax in front of the wonderful panorama overlooking Bellagio, the meeting point of the two branches of Lake Como.