Villa Luisa is a mansion located in the town centre of Alcamo, in the province of Trapani.

History

It is an elegant villa probably built in 1903Villa Luisa
Comune di Alcamo in Liberty style; it took the name of his owner’s wife, Stefano Chiarelli Peria. It is situated in Alcamo, a town rich with ancient buildings and beautiful churches. We do not know the name of the architect who planned it, but it is very similar to ''Villa Paino'' in

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 ...

, also belonging to the family Chiarelli Rossotti, and whose plan is assigned to the engineer Francesco Naselli of

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 ...

school.Roberto Calia: I Palazzi dell'aristocrazia e della borghesia alcamese; Alcamo, Carrubba, 1997 The

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

has been used as a dance hall and for wedding parties in the 1970s, then as a

nursery school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

in the 1980s. Today, after the restoration made in 1980, it has become a refined

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

, with trees of different types, and multicoloured flowers: a real peaceful haven.

Description

The building has a fine Liberty style tending towards

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

; with only one raised floor, it is 350 square metres large, with a magnificent garden enriched by fountains and elegant seats. On the main

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

(still surmounted by the owner’s

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

and his initials) there is a big balcony with a fine marble

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

, with some carvings with the shape of a Greek cross, and five artistic openings. There are 14 rooms, with the

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...

, about 110 square metres large, in the middle of them. After the restoration made in 1980 (made according to the project of the architects Valeria De Folly, Dannis and Carlo Bruschi), this room has become a more functional space, like a corner rich with different plants, well-lighted by a large

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...

and a big white

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...

made of

Murano glass Venetian glass () is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techniques, as well as ...

dated 1943. The furniture is very appropriate, as they have maintained the family’s one, dating back to the early 1900s; there are also two beautiful fireplaces of grey marble, the first is located in the hall and the other in the main bedroom. That one in the hall has geometrical patterns, with the coat of arms of the barons Rossotti Chiarelli, surmounted by a baronial crown. The second fireplace has floral arrangements, with the

family crest A crest is a component of a heraldic display, consisting of the device borne on top of the helm. Originating in the decorative sculptures worn by knights in tournaments and, to a lesser extent, battles, crests became solely pictorial after t ...

in the middle of it.

References

Sources

*Roberto Calia: I Palazzi dell'aristocrazia e della borghesia alcamese; Alcamo, Carrubba, 1997 *P.M. Rocca: di alcuni antichi edifici di Alcamo; Palermo, tip. Castellana-Di Stefano, 1905

History

Description

References

Sources

See also