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The Bassi Counts of Murena, Governors
of Pisa, took up residence in Venice, after being driven
away by Pepin, son of Charlemagne. Here they were called
Pisani (meaning "from Pisa").
It was around the year 905 when the Pisani family
started to build their fortune as merchants, bankers and
mercenary leaders. This lead them to the highest
positions in the Republic, and they became one of the
richest and most noble Venetian families. The Pisani
family of Vescovana, belonging to the branch of the
Pisani of Santo
Stefano, take their name from the beautiful palace
where they lived in Campo Santo Stefano in Venice.
It was this branch of the great family that was the most
brilliant and open to the arts, that through trade and
commerce, accumulated enormous wealth that was invested
not only in its Padovan property, but also in Venice in
beautiful palaces and on the mainland in wonderful
villas. The construction of these villas was entrusted
to the most illustrious architects of the day, such as
Palladio, Falconetto, or Scamozzi. They were Doges,
Generals, Ambassadors and Cardinals of the Venetian
Republic, and for the duration of the Republic's
splendor, until its fall, held the highest political,
administrative and religious positions.
In Vescovana, they paid the necessary attention to such
an immense estate that was source of important income,
that aided the family's coffers when compromised by
absurd expenditures incurred to build palaces or to
impress with banquets and parties when the Venetian
Republic played host to European royalty. With slow and
intelligent draining projects, the Pisani knew how to
convert land rich only in water, into flowering and
prosperous countryside where cultivation of grain,
tobacco and citrus fruit ensured a great affluence.
The Pisani of Santo Stefano had the
Villa Pisani of
Stra built in 1700. The elegance of this queen of
Venetian villas, put the family in serious economic
difficulty, the same family who had only recently had
their triumph depicted on the ceiling of the Tiepolo
Room.
It was purchased by Napoleon, who made it the residence
of his Viceroy, Eugenio Buarnais, and then was to become
the residence of the Italian sovereigns. After having
sold the Villa in Stra, the Pisani family focused their
attention on the villa in Vescovana. With the arrival of
the last Countess Pisani, Evelina van Milingen, was
enriched by the addition of the splendid garden and
grand park. It was certainly this charming Lady, after
Cardinal Francesco Pisani, commissioner of the villa,
the protagonist and soul of the residence.
The Pisani family of Santo Stefano came to an end in
1880 with the death of Almorņ III Giovanni Giuseppe,
husband of Evelina. In 1900, after her death, the only
remaining heir was a distant nephew of Almorņ, the
Marchese Carlo Bentivoglio d'Aragona, whose daughter
Elisabetta married Count Filippo Nani Mocenigo.
In the late 1960's, the grandchildren of the Marchessa
Bentivoglio, Counts Nani Moncenigo, sold the property to
the Bolognesi Scalabrin family.
The marriage of the daughter of the Duke of Baveria and
Saxony to the Marquis of Este and the dispute between
the Guelfs and Ghibellines are the origin of the history
of Vescovana and of the construction of the Villa
Pisani.
The feud of the noble and important Lady became the
cradle of historic and political events in Europe, and
her descendants would later give rise to the political
parties and wars that would change states and
allegiances, until the arrival of a Venetian family in
Vescovana. Around the year 1000, the blond Cunizza,
daughter of Guelfo II, Count of Artdorf and Lord of
Ravensburg (Swabia), Duke of Baveria and Saxony, was
given in marriage to Azzo II of Este, the "Elisina
Court", a vast feud that has as its center Solesino
(from which it takes its name) and included a great
number other neighboring villages, among them Vescovana.
The Elisina Court joined together with the Este
territory, and followed the historical events,
struggles, conquests and defeats of the House of Este.
The marriage of Cunizza produces a son, Welf (or Guelfo)
IV, future founder of the Guelf (Welf) Party, whose
members clashed with the Ghibellines (Weiblingen),
giving rise to a long series of conflicts.
The Marcheses of Este, that enjoyed a long period of
glory, and later became the Dukes of Ferrara, Modena and
Reggio, and joined their forces with those of the Pope
during the investiture conflict between Emperor Enrico
IV and Pope Gregorio VII, and they proved to be a Guelf
stronghold in Italy. During the long series of conflicts
that saw the clash of the factions, towers and
strongholds were built at Vescovana, as in the other
villages. Nonetheless, in 1249 the armies of Ezzelino da
Romano took the city and destroyed it. In 1293 the Este
holdings were annexed to the City of Padova, and later
to the Venetian Republic.
The wealthy patrician Venetians built
their own villas on the ruins of the former inhabitants
castles and towers, at the center of vast real estate
holdings, acquired through reclaimed lands or grants
from the Venetian Republic.
The acquisition of thousands of fields of the ancient
region by the extremely wealthy Pisani family dates back
to 1468. The land was sold at auction after being
confiscated from the descendants of the Este family. The
Pisani family became the lords of a true feud, the
original "Elisina Court" of Cunizza, and here they built
their palace, the Villa Pisani in Vescovana, in the
first half of the 1500s, on the ruins of an ancient
medieval tower.
Whether this legend is a story fueled by local
imagination or a reality so extraordinary that it has
taken on the shape of a fantastic happening, it is
certain that Evelina van Millingen Pisani, has become a
legend in our memory, stories, and in true accounts.
The older folk of Vescovana, that have gathered the
stories of their forefathers, tell the following story.
In September, at the end of the park, one can meet
Evelina who walks about the rocky garden. It is a
meeting of her perceived spirit, revealed by the soft
rustle of the leaves, similar to that of her silk
clothes, that one time announced her presence and
revealed her movements.
Fantastic legend or intense lasting presence? It is
certain that she was a legend, if Henry James, in 1897,
wrote to the Curtis family, blessing his house, "and all
it contains, non least the ghost or whatever remains of
the noble Pisani".
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