Villa Nava Della Porta

Villa Nava is located on the area formerly occupied by the medieval Castle of Barzanò. It is a predominantly 18th-century building that largely retains its original appearance and overlooks a spacious park sloping down toward the town of Cremella. The coat of arms of the ancient Nava family is still visible today on the main entrance, they were present in Barzanò since the 15th century, succeeded by the Tarsis family in the 19th century and later by the Della Porta family.

The entrance provides access to an inner courtyard, enclosed on three sides by the villa, which has a classic U-shaped layout, and on the south side by a high boundary wall that hosts a monumental statue. The architectural style of this private and intimate courtyard of the villa is characterised by neoclassical simplicity and symmetry: to soften the facades, there is only an elegant portico with Serizzo columns and low arches in the central wing.

The main facade, on the other hand, directly faces the park and has a more monumental appearance, despite being characterised by the same simplicity of forms and decorations as the internal facades: the strict arrangement of the windows, framed by sober Molera stone moldings, is only interrupted in the central portion by a balcony on the first floor and a symmetrical staircase on the ground floor. Connected to the villa, there are other spaces such as the lemon house, located along the western side of the villa and added in the 19th century by the Tarsis family and the cottages where carriages and horses were once sheltered.

The park stretches across the slope to the northwest, English style designed, home to significant old century plants and a pond inhabited by waterfowl. Within the park, there is also an imposing square tower, the only remaining visible evidence of the Castle of Barzanò. The grandeur and simplicity of the construction technique, as well as the dimensions of the structure, which are similar to the surviving tower of the Castle of Cernusco Lombardone, suggest a military sighting function, likely in visual contact with the adjacent fortification in Cremella. The tower has been preserved in most of the elevation but has only the perimeter walls visible today because the wooden internal floors and access stairs have deteriorated over the centuries.