Villa Corti Cerletti

Villa Corti Cerletti, located in the hamlet Codogna, has mysterious origins, as the names of its builders or first inhabitants are unknown. A fresco depicting Jesus being scourged, located above the wide staircase, bears the date 1535 and appears to be coeval with the completion of construction work on the building.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the villa was owned by the Guaita family, who were valvassors of the Grand Duchy of Milan at the time, later coming under the rule of the Kingdom of Spain. In the 19th century, the villa became the home of Giacomo Corti and his daughter Sofia, who married Cerletti. Giacomo Corti was a great traveler who lived in England, the United States and finally South America. In 1830 he settled in Buenos Aires, where he was joined by his fiancée Caterina and where the Argentine city became the home of his family.

Historian Cesare Cantù recalls Giacomo's commitment to helping his fellow Como citizens who had emigrated to Argentina, assisting them "in those first steps that of all are the most rough." The property is currently divided between the Cerletti (western part) and the Oxilia and Marangoni (eastern part).

The appearance of the villa is mainly the result of eighteenth-century work and, rather than a typical manor house, it appears as a large house. The central structure is flanked by two smaller wings that create a U-shaped pattern, surrounding a courtyard paved with beola slabs. In front of the facade is a large park, hidden by relatively high walls erected in 1813 following the transfer of part of the property.

The interior of the villa is well preserved, with vaults decorated with frescoes and stucco, wooden ceilings, and spacious halls. A detail of great interest is the mosaic floor present in the music room. Also noteworthy are the spacious cellars, woodshed and icehouse, which testify to the life of the inhabitants in times past. The entrance to the courtyard is through two elegant 18th-century portals, topped by small balconies with wrought-iron parapets.