Villa Mapelli Mozzi, also known as Villa Mozzi or Villa Mapelli, is a large rural neoclassical-style palace in Locate Bergamasco, a frazione of Ponte San Pietro, which is located in the province of Bergamo, northern Italy.

History

The site originally held a castle, property of the Mozzi family, but the current villa was completed after 1770 by the count Enrico Mozzi.

The architect is not known definitively, but it could have been a local architect, Giovanni Moroni. He might have had suggestions from Giuseppe Piermarini, since the design is similar to that of the Royal Villa of Monza, and the peaked roof recalls his design for the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

In 1820, Conte D. Luigi Mozzi owned the "villa Mozzi, later Mapelli". The Mozzi came from nearby Mozzo and were not related to the noble family of the same name from Florence. In 1809, the Mozzi family joined the Mapelli family when Angela Mozzi, last descendant of the house, married the noble Girolamo Mapelli. The coats of arms of the two families were combined. Their son Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi married Ippolita Giulino of the Counts of Vialba. Their son Paolo married Enrichetta Tarsis in 1889, a descendant of an ancient noble family. By royal decree of March 13, 1913, and with letters patent of July 17, 1913, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy elevated the Mapelli Mozzi family to the hereditary status of counts.

The property remains in the possession of the Mapelli Mozzi family who also own the "sumptuous" Villa Mapelli Mozzi located in Casatenovo, between Bergamo and Lake Como.

Legacy

The interior of the Ponte San Pietro building has a large staircase leading to a piano nobile frescoed by Vincenzo Angelo Orelli, Paolo Vincenzo Bonomini, and Agostino Comerio. The villa has long held the family's significant works of art, with Alex Mapelli Mozzi (b. 1951) – also of Ponte San Pietro – working internationally as an art dealer and curator.