The history of Villa Borri-Manzoli

The history of Villa Manzoli is closely linked to two families who lived in the territory of Corbetta for several centuries: the Borri's and the Manzoli's.

The tradition says that the first known member of the noble Borri family is San Mona: born in the II century, he has been bishop of Milan and founded of the first church of Corbetta.

In more recent times, the Borri had a prominent role in Milan: at the time of the struggle between the Torriani and Visconti, starting from the thirteenth century, Borri sided with the latter. The fortune of this noble family had his peak with the marriage of Bonacossa Borri and Matthew I Visconti, Lord of Milan.

First news of a “noble mansion” are from XVI century, but the building as we can see it today was probably erected one century later.

In the early 800 there was a revolution in the ownership: November 4th, 1810 the countess Alda Borri married the noble Giovanni Manzoli, Napoleonic officer, bringing with him the house with the surrounding construction and agricultural properties.

The history of the Villa, in the last two centuries, is closely related to the Manzoli family. Their life is divided between the farming activity in Corbetta and politics life in Milan.

In the end of the nineteenth century a secondary wing of the building is built to be rented to a textile industry. During World War I part of the rooms is occupied by German troops: this leads to a degradation of some areas of the building.
The situation is partially restored in the '30s, but new damage come for the same reason in World War II.

The Villa returns to its original splendor, thanks to the work done in the '90s, but especially for the recent restoration of the facades of 2011.

Villa Manzoli is still inhabited by the historical owners.

The restoration

In spring 2011 a massive restoration was applied aimed at solving the problems of the walls and restore the original color of the two facades.