The Ville Gheza complex

In the foothills of Pian di Borno, located to the left of the Davine stream, which descends from the crags with various waterfalls, there is a large estate comprising a beautiful garden and various buildings: this is the Ville Gheza complex. The Art Nouveau villa, the modern-style villa and the grand wine cellar stand out in particular. Above, up to the edge of the cliffs, there are terraces planted with olive trees. These are flanked – beyond the Bià delle Ólte (vaulted road) and the Valdèl de la Fì (valley border), between Pian di Borno and Angone – by other terraces covered with vines.

The estate was originally owned by the Gheza family, while it now belongs to the Bignotti family, which offers three types of guided tours. One to the Davine stream waterfall, another to the Lanzato vineyards and the last to the ‘Moorish belvedere’, all three ending with a visit to the wine cellar.

The estate is reached from Via Nazionale, taking the Pergulù avenue – once covered with pergolas – and then arriving in a small square. The small square housed an elegant fountain until the 1960s and from there two lanes branch off leading to the Lanzato and BeLarna districts.
Here there is the entrance to the estate, consisting of a recently restored tower house dating back to the 1920s. The structure presents architectural forms in Spanish and Arab style and, leaning against it, there is an older building of 17th century origin. Detached from this complex, there is another building on top of which is a terrace offering an extensive panorama of the area.

THE EXOTIC GARDEN

As you walk up the serpentine avenue, a lush garden opens up to the view, with palm trees, agaves and other exotic species, as well as pretty ponds covered with water lilies. This oriental oasis and the transformations made to the buildings and the landscape above are the brainchild of Maffeo Gheza: born in Pian di Borno, he was a prominent figure in the industrial and banking world of the Valle Camonica region in the first half of the 20th century and a lawyer by profession. In creating the garden, he was probably influenced by his father-in-law, Professor Ottone Penzig, professor of Botany at the University of Genoa. An internationally renowned scientist, his father-in-law was in fact an expert in the acclimatisation of exotic plants, so much so that he collaborated with Sir T. Hanbury on the creation of the famous botanical gardens of La Mortola in Ventimiglia.

THE CELLAR

In addition to various other buildings used as stables and greenhouses, there is a large, recently renovated cellar. There, in large oak barrels, the various qualities of wine, produced in the surrounding area by the Bignotti company, are aged. The production and marketing of wine are not recent phenomena in Pian di Borno, but date back to the first half of the 20th century, thanks to the resourcefulness of Maffeo Gheza. The lawyer had a great passion for the cultivation of vines, which he extended to the foot of the rocks on the mountainside by exploiting all the land available by building tiny terraces. At the beginning of the last century, the wine was sold by the Gheza family in demijohns or in bulk, and later, until 1980, in Lanzato-branded bottles.

THE ART NOUVEAU VILLA

On the left, towards the area of the same name, the Art Nouveau villa stands out among several palm trees. Originally – at the beginning of the 19th century, when it became the property of Giovan Pietro Gheza – it was a rustic building, mainly used during the grape harvest period, but later changed into a residence. At the beginning of the 20th century, Maffeo Gheza made radical changes to the villa, transforming it into the mansion that we can still see today in its original structure, calling it ‘Villa Lanzata’. This was the initial home of the lawyer’s family, later becoming, after the construction of the villa in Breno around the 1930s, a summer residence. It was later (and still is) inhabited by the family of one of Maffeo Gheza’s sons.

THE ‘HOUSE ON THE WATERFALL’ VILLA

Moving towards the waterfall of the Davine stream, there is a modern villa dating from the 1950s, designed by Brescia architect B. Fedrigolli. Most unusual, the villa is influenced by the style of the famous ‘Fallingwater house’ in Pennsylvania by F. L. Wright.

Walking along an avenue that flanks the villa and further along the course of the Davine, one reaches a clearing from which one can admire the spectacle of the stream’s waterfall. This scenery is particularly impressive during periods of heavy rain, when the stream – swelling impressively – pulverises in a thousand rivulets against the rock and falls thunderously into the gorge.

THE BELVEDERE

Moving towards the Bià de le Ólte – high up, about halfway up the hillside – one can see the overhanging terrace of the Moorish belvedere, dating from the 1920s. There is a small tower house there – covered with arabesques – set on a natural balcony, from which one can admire a panorama stretching from Pizzo Badile to Lake Iseo.