Villa Crespi

Last updated
Villa Crespi
OrtaSanGiulioAug132024 06.jpg
Villa Crespi in Orta San Giulio
Villa Crespi
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Former namesVilla Pia
General information
Architectural style Moorish Revival, eclectic
Location Orta San Giulio, Piedmont, Italy
Coordinates 45°47′47″N8°24′58″E / 45.7964°N 8.4161°E / 45.7964; 8.4161
Current tenants Antonino Cannavacciuolo
Construction started1879;146 years ago (1879)
Client Cristoforo Crespi
Design and construction
Architect(s)Angelo Colla
Orta Villa Crespi 5.JPG
Front view of the building
Restaurant information
Established1999;26 years ago (1999)
Owner(s) Relais & Châteaux
Manager(s)Massimo Raugi
Head chefAntonino Cannavacciuolo
ChefSimone Corbo
Food type Italian
Rating Etoile Michelin-3.svg
Gambero-3.svg
Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Best of the Best (5th, 2023) [1]
Website villacrespi.it

Villa Crespi is a 19th-century Moorish Revival-style rural mansion in the town of Orta San Giulio, Province of Novara, Piedmont, Italy; it is located southeast of the town, on Via G. Fava 18, near the shores of Lake Orta and below the Sacro Monte di Orta. The Villa is now a luxury hotel and restaurant managed by chef and restaurateur Antonino Cannavacciuolo, which has been awarded with three Michelin stars. [1] [2]

The Villa, notable for its scenic minaret-like tower and interior atrium decorated in stucco arabesque, [2] owes its name to the wealthy cotton merchant Cristoforo Benigno Crespi, who commissioned its construction to architect Angelo Colla  [ it ] in 1879 as his family holiday home and wanted it to remind him of the buildings he had seen during his working trips to the Middle East. It was once also called Villa Pia after Crespi's wife. [3]

In 1914, it was the location for the film Iwna, the Ganges' Pearl (original title Iwna, la perla del Gange) by Giuseppe Pinto. [4]

References

  1. 1 2 Cuomo, Andrea (2 October 2023). "Villa Crespi di Cannavacciuolo è il quinto ristorante al mondo secondo il Tripadvisor deluxe". Gambero Rosso (in Italian). Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Villa Crespi". (Official website).
  3. Massarani, Tullio (1907). Beltrami, Luca (ed.). Ville e castelli d'Italia: Lombardia e laghi (in Italian) (2nd ed.). Milan: Tecnografica. pp. 91–102.
  4. Dizionario del Turismo Cinematografico (in Italian).