Italian
The villa Lin, Andrighetti, Carlotti Zon, Marcello del Majno is one of the many Venetian villas overlooking Terraglio, the road connecting Venice to Treviso. It is located in Sambughè, a hamlet of Preganziol, in the province of Treviso, and is still inhabited by the Marcello del Majno family.
The history of the villa
It probably dates back to the Six or Seventeenth century, but acquired its current appearance during the Eighteenth century, when it was expanded with the addition of a lateral body and an orthogonal arm to the north. Previously, the villa had belonged to the Lin family, originally from China, who had made a fortune in the spice trade. Later, it passed to the Andrighetti family and then to the marchioness Teodora Carlotti Zon. The daughter Andriana Zon, who married Count Alessandro Marcello, inherited the villa and transformed it into a meeting place for literati, artists, and politicians.
Among his guests were Queen Margherita of Savoy with young Vittorio Emanuele III, Giacomo Zanella, Antonio Fogazzaro, Vittoria Aganoor, Fedele Lampertico, and others. In the years 1888-89, in particular, he organized a series of meetings among some personalities from the political and ecclesiastical world to find a common ground for an agreement between State and Church.
Villa Description
The villa is set in a rural context that is still well preserved, partly included in the Marcello del Majno estate of which it is a part. The complex is surrounded by a large park, where a Byzantine-era well and a sarcophagus of the same style can be found. In the southern area of the park stands a small oratory with a bell tower, dedicated to Saint Joseph.
The main house has a symmetrical façade, with a central portal topped by a balcony and a triangular pediment. The windows are framed by pilasters and alternating curved pediments with triangular ones. The roof is hipped, with two side dormers and one central dormer.
The interior of the villa is rich in frescoes, attributed to various artists including Claudio Novelli, Giuseppe Battista Bison, and Costantino Cedini. Above the doors there are monochrome ornaments, while on the walls, inside stucco frames, one can admire scenes of rural life representing the allegory of the four seasons.
The lateral body, added in the nineteenth century, has a very simple appearance, with a portico open to the western courtyard. The opposite front has a series of twelve openings, interrupted in the middle by a section crowned by a curvilinear pediment with a pair of windows per floor. The attached building, orthogonal to the lateral body, has an agricultural function and houses the stables and warehouses.
The villa today
The villa is still inhabited by the Marcello del Majno family, who take care of its preservation and enhancement. It has been subject to a protection order since 1962 and has managed to avoid being damaged by some road projects that would have affected the park and divided the agricultural estate. However, more recently, the area has been affected by the construction of the Mestre bypass which, due to landscape restrictions, runs underground. The villa can be visited by appointment and occasionally hosts cultural events and exhibitions.
Villa Lin, Andrighetti, Carlotti Zon, Marcello del Majno is therefore a testimony of history, art, and culture in the Veneto region, which deserves to be known and appreciated.
Photo credits: www.culturaveneto.it
