The Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini is a villa with notable 19th-century park in the English romantic style and a small

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

. The villa now houses the Museo di Archeologia Ligure, and is located at Via Pallavicini 13, immediately next to the railway station in

Pegli Pegli is a neighbourhood in the west of Genoa, Italy. With a mild climate and a sea promenade, Pegli is mainly a residential area with four public parks and several villas and mansions. It is also known as a tourist resort with some hotels, campi ...

, a suburb of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The park and botanical garden are open daily. The estate was begun in the late 17th century by Clelia Durazzo Grimaldi, who established the Giardino botanico Clelia Durazzo Grimaldi at that time. Today's park was created by her nephew Ignazio Alessandro Pallavicini after he inherited the property. The park was designed by

Michele Canzio Michele Canzio (1788–1868) was an Italian architect and painter, best known as stage designer for the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. He also designed a remarkable garden at the Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini. Canzio was born in Genoa, where at age 1 ...

, set designer for the

Teatro Carlo Felice The Teatro Carlo Felice is the principal opera house of Genoa, Italy, used for performances of opera, ballet, orchestral music, and recitals. It is located on the side of Piazza De Ferrari. The hall is named for King Carlo Felice, and dates fro ...

, and built between 1840 and 1846. It covers some 97,000 m² of hillside behind the villa. Although recognizably in the English romantic style, the garden is highly theatrical, to the point of being organized as a series of scenes forming a play with prologue and three acts (Return to Nature, Memory, Purification). Structures and statues through the garden form focal points to this libretto. When the park opened in September 1846, on the occasion of the VIII Congresso degli Scienziati Italiani, it quickly gained national fame. In 1928 its current owner, Matilde Gustinani, donated both park and botanical garden to Genoa for use as a public park. Through the remainder of the 20th century, the garden fell into some disrepair, and indeed was threatened in 1972 by construction of a nearby highway. Its restoration began in 1991, however, in honor of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

' discovery of America. As of 2006 about half of the park is open for visitors. In 2017 the park was elected the most beautiful garden in Italy. The park contains two ponds, a dozen notable structures, various statues, and an extensive grotto. The grotto represents a

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

sque inferno, with walkways and subterranean lake through which the visitor may ascend to paradise. In former years, visitors could explore the grotto by boat. Structures include a Coffee House in the shape of triumphal arch, Rustic House, Madonna's Chapel, Mausoleum of the Captain, Temple of Diana, Flower House, Turkish Temple, Obelisk, and Chinese Pagoda. The park also contains a number of plantings of botanical interest, including mature specimens of '' Araucaria bidwilli'', ''

Cedrus ''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, is a genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae (subfamily Abietoideae). They are native plant, native to the mountains of the western Himalayas and the Mediterranean region, occurring at altit ...

libani'', ''

Cinnamomum ''Cinnamomum'' is a genus of evergreen aromatic trees and shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The species of ''Cinnamomum'' have aromatic oils in their leaves and bark. The genus contains approximately 250 species, distributed in ...

camphora'', ''

Jubaea ''Jubaea'' is a genus of palms with one species, ''Jubaea chilensis'' or ''Jubaea spectabilis'', commonly known in English as the Chilean wine palm or Chile cocopalm, and palma chilena in Spanish. It is native to southwestern South America and i ...

chilensis'', ''

Notelaea ''Notelaea'' is a genus of Australian plants in the olive family.Étienne Pierre Ventenat. 1804. Choix de Plantes, dont la Plupart sont Cultivees dans le Jardin de Cels sub t. 25. They are commonly known as 'mock-olives'. Twelve species are c ...

excelsa'', ''

Firmiana ''Firmiana'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae, formerly placed in the now defunct Sterculiaceae; it may sometimes be called the "parasol tree". The genus name honours Karl Joseph von Firmian. Species The Catalogue of Life l ...

simplex'', ''

Quercus An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ...

suber'', ''

Podocarpus macrophyllus ''Podocarpus macrophyllus'' is a conifer in the genus ''Podocarpus'', family Podocarpaceae. It is the northernmost species of the genus, native to southern Japan and southern and eastern China. Common names in English include yew plum pine, Buddh ...

'', many exotic palms and a stand of some 160 ''

Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controv ...

japonica''. Image:Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini - Chinese pagoda.JPG, Image:Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini - Flower house.JPG, Image:Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini - the lake.JPG, The gardens Image:Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini - Roman bridge.JPG, File:Veduta del tempio di Diana.JPG, Temple of Diana Image:Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini - Bust of Michele Canzio.JPG,

References

* ''Villa Pallavicini: Parco Romantico di Pegli'', Genova Città Inaspettata, Sagep Libri & Comunicazione Srl, Genoa, 2002. . * A.Valenti Durazzo "I Durazzo da schiavi a dogi della Repubblica di Genova", 2004. * A.Valenti Durazzo "Il Fratello del Doge. Giacomo Durazzo un illuminista alla Corte degli Asburgo tra Mozart, Casanova e Gluck", 2012.

External links

Museum of Ligurian Archaeology
{{authority control Gardens in Liguria Durazzo-Pallavicini Museums in Genoa Archaeological museums in Italy

See also

References

External links