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AN OUTLINE OF ITS HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE |
16th century Villa Beria - Manzano Friuli
(from a drawing by Christoph Ulmer) |
The villa was initially the property of the Prampero family, then it was inherited by the Trento family and then again it was inherited by the Beria family and is currently owned by Carlo de Carvalho Beria following the adoption by Elena, the last descendant of the main branch of the Piedmontese Beria di Sale e d'Argentina.
The building, which is in the centre of the village of Manzano, is located in the middle of a large park and has its original stone walls, Peruzzi once called it a “Palazzo” (palace), Ulmer called it “Villa”, however, in reality, as Countess Elena Beria liked to point out, it is a typical Friulian country house, and not for this is it any less grand nor does it lack its own particular atmosphere. At the base of the delightful Colle di Montuzza, where, amongst the majestic cypress trees, excellent vineyards, fruit trees and woodland, it stands out in a marvellous position, with the panoramic hunting lodge at its feet and in the middle of a large park, next to the farmyard where two rustic buildings remain, the main villa rises up with its two wings, which today are separated from the main building following a fire. In fact, the part of the house that was burnt was never rebuilt however a façade was remodelled with a lovely balcony and a delightful garden was created within the destroyed walls.
The entire building has an elongated shape with a roof which has a large and covered overhang; in the centre it has a tripartite gable with a bell. Aligned with the villa and parallel to it, between its western boundary and the church yard, is the ancient steward’s house with a lovely gateway in Istrian stone and its under gallery through which carriages going to the main house passed in days gone by. The adjacent parish church which remains on one of the property’s corners, was once much smaller with a small wall belfry on the façade wall. It was thought that this was the villa’s Family chapel and this could have been true, particularly when we take into account that the family maintained its private access to the church up until the 1940s from a door leading from the garden, as well as its own pew in the first row.
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