Villa Igiea a Palermo salone liberty 3 porte

Villa Igiea is a

neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

former residence, now a luxury hotel maintaining some of the

art nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

(''Liberty'') refurbishment completed at the dawn of the 20th-century; the hotel sits on a high outcrop overlooking the sea at Porto dell'Acquasanta, located on Salita Belmonte #43 in the quartiere of Pellegrino of the city of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, Siciy, Italy.

History and description

The structure was originally built in the late 19th-century as a castle-like villa built for the retired British admiral Cecil (or William) Domville, and purchased by the wealthy businessman Ignazio Florio junior, who planned to convert the site into a tuberculosis sanatarium. Their daughter had tuberculosis. This prompted the name change to Villa Igiea, to echo the name of

Hygeia Hygieia is a goddess from Greek, as well as Roman, mythology (also referred to as: Hygiea or Hygeia; ; grc, Ὑγιεία or , la, Hygēa or ). Hygieia is a goddess of health ( el, ὑγίεια – ''hugieia''), cleanliness and hygiene. Her ...

, a nymph from Greek mythology associated with health and hygiene. However, Florio was forced by investors to change plans, and commissioned a refurbishment from the architect

Ernesto Basile Ernesto Basile (31 January 1857 – 26 August 1932, in Palermo) was an Italian architect and an exponent of modernisme and Liberty style, the Italian variant of Art Nouveau. His style was known for its eclectic fusion of ancient, medieval and m ...

, in order to create a luxury hotel, inaugurated in 1900. The hotel still retains much of the floral decoration, including frescoes by Ettore De Maria Bergler and Giovanni Enea, and some of the decor by Vittorio Ducrot. The original dining salon of the hotel with Bergler frescoes is known as the ''Sala degli Specchi'' or ''Sala Basile''. The property had fallen in decline by the second world war. It has only recently returned to function as a hotel.Official site
Rocco Forte hotels

References

{{Coord, 38.1453, 13.3701, display=title Buildings and structures in Palermo Art Nouveau architecture in Italy