Montorfano was enfeoffed to the family way back in 1350, when the Duke of Milan, Matteo Visconte the Great, gave his daughter Floramunda in marriage to the eminent ancestor, Count Guido Mandelli III. Since then, up to our very days, this domain has remained in the family, making up one of the very oldest family properties, not only in Italy but in the whole of Europe.



The Mandelli noble family dates way back to before the Xth century, and with certainty, to the year 962 when the Emperor Otho I, called The Great, as a reward for his many valiant services in arms, gave Tazio I the title and the feud of Maccagno. His grate-grandson, Count Tazio II called Ranza, prince of Milan, Lord of the Insubria and Capitan General of the armies of Milan, historians say, was due to become the Duke of Milan, hadn't he been killed, whilst heading his troops, in the great battle the Milanese fought against Emperor Frederick Red-beard in the year 1158.



In Montorfano you can visit the ruins of the very ancient castle built on the top of the mountain by the Gauls, which was seized by Frederick Red-beard and where he took shelter after the great battle of Tassera, not far from Montorfano, in 1160. This castle was destroyed and rebuilt various times during the fightings between Milan and Como and was finally destroyed in the XVI century.

The Villa of Montorfano was built by Count Nicolò II in the XV century and was completed by his grandson Franco, who married Lucia Serbelloni, sister of Cecilia, the mother of Giovanni Angelo de Medici who ascended to the Chair of St. Peter with the name of Pope Pius IV.



Among the many tales about the wars and fightings, between the Dukedom of Milan and the Lordship of Como, history tells us, that Lord Giacomo, the great-great grandson of "Matteo Visconti the Great", Duke of Milan, won the hand of the daughter of the powerful Lord of Como, Franchino Rusca, at a tournament that took place in the year 1413, in the presence of the King of Hungary and Bohemia, Sigismund II. After the marriage of Lord Giacomo to the beautiful Lady Elisabetta Rusca, Milan and Como lived in peace for many years.



As mentioned before, the ancient Castle of Montorfano was destroyed in the late fifteen-hundred, by the Spanish King, Charles V, whilst the sons of Count Franco were leading their troops, far away from their lands, fighting on behalf of their first cousin Pope Pius IV.

The Mandelli, have family ties with the most renown sovereign families of Europe and of Italy. Among others, they have been closely related to the kings of Austria, England, Scotland, France, Cyprus, to the Dukes Bavaria and Saxony, to the Gonzaga, Dukes of Mantua, to the Scaligeri of Verona and Vicenza, to the Estensi of Ferrara, to the Visconti and the Sforza of Milan, to the Medici, the Rusca and many more.



The Counts' Villa of Montorfano, is a austere mansion, with frescoed rooms, where kings, princes, cardinals, and other famous personages have stayed. Some of the frescoed rooms are believed to have been painted, in fifteen-hundred, by Iovanni Donato da Montorfano the artist that has the great honour of sharing the refectory of the Cathedral of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in Milan, with Leonardo da Vinci. In fact, the great fresco of the Crucifixion of Donato is painted on the wall, just opposite to the most famous fresco in the world, "The Last Supper".

In the centre of the Villa is the Hall of Honour, the site of so much history. Under the stern eyes of the ancestor's paintings on the walls, beneath the iron chandelier and sheltered by the large family tree on one side and the impressive coat of arms over the marble chimney on the other, concerts and balls, meetings and conventions, weddings and duels, christenings and funerals, etc. etc. have taken and still take place. Historian C. Annoni in his writings, tells about some bearers of unwelcome messages on behalf of enemies of the Count, who, as an answer, were seized and "toasted" inside the chimney!

Few private properties like this are left and fewer can offer today the privacy and discretion, you can find here, in the centre of Lombardy's beautiful lake region.