CastaDiva Resort, Lake Como, Italy
Last summer, CastaDiva Resort made a dramatic entrance onto the Lake Como stage as the first five-star hotel to open on the lago in a century. Located in Blevio, just outside Como, the property is the former home of 19th-century opera diva Giuditta Pasta. Pasta modeled her lakefront home, the extravagant neo-Baroque Villa Roda, on Milan’s legendary La Scala opera house, where she debuted in Norma, which Vincenzo Bellini composed for her. The production features a challenging aria titled Casta Diva (chaste diva) intended to show off the soprano’s remarkable vocal range. A gathering spot for early-19th-century glitterati—including Bellini, Gioachino Rossini, and the French writer Stendhal—Pasta’s home has been painstakingly restored and rechristened Villa Roccabrunna, which now houses 10 of CastaDiva’s 75 expansive suites. In addition to the main villa, eight historic and new villas—all with stunning views—are sited throughout the terraced 6.4-acre property with towering trees, some of which are said to date back to the singer’s era.
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