The collapse of Villa Obizza

Giò Matteo Obizzi, a noble councilor from Crema, commissioned a country residence in the late 17th century in the Palladian style. Completed in 1702, the Villa Obizza took its name from its first owner. The Obizzi family had owned the land in Bottaiano since 1554. The villa passed to the Monticelli family in the first half of the 19th century, and the Obizzi dynasty ended with the death of Vincenzo Monticelli.

Over the following decades, the villa passed to several families. The final owners, the Invernizzi family, eventually abandoned the property to move to a more modest villa in Ripalta Guerina, taking their furniture and tapestries with them. During this time, the villa continued to be used for agricultural activity and became a warehouse for agricultural produce in 1912.

With the industrial boom of the 1950s, the countryside became depopulated and the villa was abandoned by its last keeper in 1971. After the Invernizzi family took over the estate, the roof partially collapsed in 1986 due to bad weather, damaging the attic and the main hall. On 12 December 2019, the main facade gave way, making it impossible to restore the building's former splendor.

The villa collapsed completely in January 2020, leaving behind nothing but rubble. Today, only the remains of the once-grand Palladian structure remain in the fraction of Bottaiano, in the municipality of Ricengo.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons