Have you seen the latest James Bond movie (“Casino Royal”) and the scenes where ‘007’ is recuperating (yes, he actually bleeds now!) or maybe the “Star Wars Episode II – Attack of the Clones” scene where young Jedi Anakin marries beautiful Padme Amidala? The setting for these scenes is one and the same and is not the stuff of a Hollywood back-lot or green-screen technology. They were filmed on dazzling Lake Como, not far from Milan. An interesting aside is that the "holy man" who married young Darth Vader and the Naboo senator is a local dentist on Lake Como!
The actual site is Villa del Balbianello very near the little lakeside town of Lenno. It is located on the tip of peninsula Lavedo, a small wooded peninsula jutting from the western shore of Lake Como, not far from the Isola Comacina. The villa is famous for its enchanting, elaborate, terraced gardens. They are not expansive by any means but they are unlike any we’ve seen before. This place is simply enchanting, almost mystical.
The villa, built in 1787 for Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini overlooking the bays of Diana and Venus, now belongs to FAI (Fondo per l’Ambiente Italiano), a national trust for public education regarding environmental protection and the conservation of Italy’s artistic and monumental heritage. They certainly have a gem here. By the way, the story goes that the Cardinal had a coffin in his bedroom along with his bed to remind him of his mortality and ‘final disposition’. He was buried in it!
Villa Balbianello and its wonderful gardens are open to the public from April to October every day except Monday and Wednesday from 10am to 6pm (please check for latest schedule). The interiors of the villa can be visited only with a guide, booked in advance. For a guide, especially if you are interested in behind the scenes stories, try Gigliola (gigliola.foglia@tin.it). She was present at the Villa Balbianello location shoot for Star Wars Episode II. I understand she has a wealth of stories about the filming, and about Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman and George Lucas .... not gossipy, just neat little details about the site, the people, and how pleased the locals were with how the beautiful Lake Como was presented and how warm and polite the entire film crew were. By the way, another movie I’ve seen, also filmed there, was “A Month by the Lake” (1995, Vanessa Redgrave).
Villa Balbianello can be reached by private shuttle boat service from Sala Comacina, a little village just up the coast from Lenno, or by foot from Lenno (about a half mile trek out along a side-ridge of the peninsula). I particularly enjoyed this walk through the forest canopy and the views into interesting lakeside backyards. If you are in the Como area, don't miss this place.
Enjoy
Paolo
P.S. This Star Wars related web-site offers some additional photos, much better than mine above! (http://www.bellagio.co.nz/starwars/index.html).