The Tiepolo and Passi de Preposulo families

This ancient noble family was among the Dodese, the twelve Venetian families (also known as the Apostolics) who elected the first Doge of Venice in 697 A.D. Of Roman origins, the family lived in the colonial Rimini and, with the advent of Barbarian incursions there, took refuge on the islands of the Venetian Lagoon. Its members include Doges Jacopo (1229-1249) and Lorenzo (1268); Bajamonte, famous for the Tiepolo-Querini-Badoer (1310) plot, which led to the establishment of the Council of the Ten; Paolo, procurator of San Marco and the ambassador at the court of Pope Pius V (1568), architect of the Holy League, the last crusade following the Cypriot war that culminated in the Battle of Lepanto; Almorò, an arms leader who distinguished himself in the campaign against the Turks (1570) and the Uscocchi (1576 and 1591).

Ermolao Tiepolo, procurator of San Marco and Senator of the Republic, and his son, Giandomenico (1650-1730), a scholar of antiquity, completed the design of Villa Tiepolo Passi.

The de Preposulo family is a venerable Bergamo dinasty with a documental history dating back to the year 973 A.D. They took on the additional name "Passi" after 1307, following the peace agreement obtained by Ottopasso de Preposulo which ended the bloody feud between the Bergamo Guelph and Ghibelline factions. Since then, the de Preposulo were nicknamed "quelli de la pas" ("those of the peace"), and "i Pas" became Passi. The family inherited the property from the Tiepolo family in the 19th century. Illustrious members of the de Preposulo clan include the Blessed Luca Passi (Bergamo 1789 - Venice 1866), founder of the Order of the Dorotheans (1838), whose beatification was carried out under Pope Francis (Venice, Basilica of San Marco, 13 April 2013). At the end of the 19th century, Count Enrico Matteo Passi de Preposulo left the family's historic palace in Bergamo Alta and their country Villa in Calcinate, known as "La Passa". With his wife, Countess Maria Mapelli Mozzi, he moved to Palazzo Tiepolo at San Tomà in Venice and spent the summers at Villa Tiepolo in the countryside at Carbonera. He directed an important renovation work in the early 20th century. The Villa was inherited by his son Alessandro (who was the Mayor of Venice during the difficult post-war period), whose Padua-born wife, Maria De Zigno, lent particular care and attention to the historic park. Alessandro was succeeded by his first-born son, Count Eng. Gian Luca, who lived at Carbonera with his Turin-born Countess Elisabetta Ferrero di Cavallerleone e di Cambiano uninterruptedly from 1949 on. In 1999, upon his death, Countess Elisabetta, with the aid of her children and now her grandchildren as well, launched a significant project to enhance and protect the artistic, architectural and landscape heritage of the site. And the story continues...