Villa Toeplitz is a historic villa located in
Varese
Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559.
It is the c ...
,
Lombardy, Italy. Construction was complete by 1901 and subsequently named after the banker Jósef Leopold Toeplitz (in
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
, Giuseppe Toeplitz), who bought the villa in 1914. It previously belonged to the Hannesens, a German family that used it as a country holiday house.
Villa Toeplitz is considered one of the ten most beautiful parks in Italy thanks to its carefully designed gardens, scenic fountains and water features. The villa also houses the headquarters of the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the
University of Insubria, as well as the Ethno-Archeological Museum Castiglioni.
History
Villa Toeplitz was built on a hill in the Varese district of ''Sant'Ambrogio Olona'', in the centre of a complex of orchards and farm buildings. It is one of 120 villas in a municipality that has 73% of the landscape protected.
The villa was created as a country residence for the German Frey family.
The Varese engineer Alfredo Speroni renovated the dwelling, having designed the original nucleus of the house, which was then handed over to the Hannesen family. In 1914 the founder of
Banca Commerciale Italiana
Banca Commerciale Italiana (COMIT), founded in 1894, was once one of the largest banks in Italy. In 1999 it merged with a banking group consisting of Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde (aka Cariplo; est. 1823) and Banco Ambroveneto, wh ...
, Giuseppe Toeplitz, bought the building and it subsequently became known as Villa Toeplitz.
Giuseppe Toeplitz commissioned the Varese engineer Speroni to completely transform the residence. Due to
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the building was eventually re-opened in 1918. Speroni and the Roman architect
Armando Brasini modified the existing building and made significant developments to the surrounding park, which was expanded to 8 hectares. Villa Toeplitz's park includes the main villa, the residential villa (dépendance) and the porter's lodge. The park was divided into several components: the orchard; a lawn area; access roads to the Villa; patches of shrubs and groups of trees; a "wood" of conifers and exotic plants; a lookout and chapel on the upper part of the property; a
hornbeam
Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Origin of names
The common English name ''hornbeam ...
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
; areas for bowls, tennis courts and croquet games; a flower garden; a swimming pool (today a pond); and, a wood-aged chestnut. The original orchard disappeared following the expansion of Sant'Ambrogio's cemetery, where the remains of the Toeplitz spouses are buried. There were also greenhouses (now abandoned) and some small stables. In 2010, due to the demolition of old cattle sheds and a no longer functioning water derivation room, an area was renovated for public access.
Internal renovations included an attic above the first floor, a small balcony with arches and pilasters carved on the east side and a tower with a metal dome where an astronomical mirror was installed, under the direction of Professor Bianchi, director of the
Brera Astronomical Observatory.
Toeplitz projected a full hydraulic engineering project to channel the water of the nearby
Monte Martica river into the gardens' attractions. These water features included a monumental stairway and
porphyry waterfalls, mosaic, fountains and grey
Carrara marble
Carrara marble, Luna marble to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of Massa ...
. They were modified by Toeplitz with the planting of cypress hedges and coniferous tree patches. Today the original water features no longer function.
The main building was completed towards the end of the 1920s and the villa became a place of cultural and artistic meetings organized by the Polish dancer and actress Edvige Mrozowska, Giuseppe Toeplitz's second wife, who was passionate about music, art and astronomy.
Edvige Toeplitz created and promoted the park's layout and symmetry, influenced by her personal journeys and the places she had visited. During a trip to Kashmir, Mrs. Edvige was inspired by the gardens of the Mongol Emperor Babur, (known as "the father of gardens"), and incorporated the style used by the
Mughal empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
,
following the canons of
Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic ...
. This included the presence of ponds, fountains and canals at the edges of the walkways. Edvige Toeplitz's interests in botanical collecting and astronomy also influenced the origin and history of the park, specifically her importation of exotic plants and the construction of a small Observatory. When Giuseppe Toeplitz died in 1938, the villa and the park were inherited by his wife and his son Ludovico who, after the end of the Second World War, ceded them to the Mocchetti brothers from
Legnano.
In 1972 the property was acquired by the Municipality of Varese, which decided to open the park to the public. The Villa currently houses one of the decentralized offices of the
University of Insubria.
Villa Toeplitz was used as a filming location for the 1968 film ''Una jena in cassaforte'' (''A Hyena in a Safe'') by director Cesari Canevari. The cast included
Dmitri Nabokov
Dmitri Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: Дми́трий Влади́мирович Набо́ков; May 10, 1934February 22, 2012) was an American opera singer and translator. Born in Berlin, he was the only child of Russian parents: author Vlad ...
, Maria Luisa Geisberger, Ben Salvador, Alex Morrison, Karina Kar,
Cristina Gaioni
Cristina Gaioni (born as Maria Cristina Gaioni; 4 November 1940) is an Italian actress, sometimes credited as Cristina Gajoni and Cristina Gaioni Visentin.
Born in Milan, Gaioni studied acting at the drama school of Piccolo Teatro under Giorgi ...
and Otto Tinard.
Villa
![Bugnato Villa Toeplitz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Bugnato_Villa_Toeplitz.jpg)
The location of the villa provides extensive views of the ''Valceresio'', the Olona Valley, the
Mendrisiotto and part of the
Comasco.
[ The building has an eclectic architectural style, created by a mix of construction materials and approaches. These include the Lombard style of reusing existing materials, the 19th-century traditions of the architect ]Camillo Boito
Camillo Boito (; 30 October 1836 – 28 June 1914) was an Italian architect and engineer, and a noted art critic, art historian and novelist.
Biography
Boito was born in Rome, the son of an Italian painter of miniatures. His mother was of Poli ...
, and the use of Renaissance models that recall classical and mannerist art. Brick masonry is embedded in terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
, and ashlar used on the ground floor. The grey stone that adorns the lower part of the building was obtained from the limestone quarries above nearby Barasso.
Embellishments commissioned by Toeplitz
The villa was substantially restructured by Jósef Leopold Toeplitz in the years immediately after the First World War when he bought the existing building from the German industrialist Eugene Hannesen.[ The works, inspired by his second wife, continued until 1926, under the guidance of the prominent Roman architect Armando Brasini, known for his eclectic and visionary style. Once the renovation work was completed, the building became Toeplitz's favourite residence, and also a meeting place where famous names from the ''Italian'' and international economic, industrial and artistic scene stayed.]
Call to Palladium
The upper floor is characterized by a loggia
In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...
to give light to the panoramic room with arches closed by windows interrupted by a niche. A large panoramic terrace is located on the west side of the villa. It is furnished with two large flowerbeds under which there is an exedra fountain with a semi-dome cap decorated with rays to simulate a shell. On the lower side of this facade of the building, there are thermal windows that recall those used by Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of ...
in Villa Foscari
Villa Foscari is a patrician villa in Mira, near Venice, northern Italy, designed by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. It is also known as ''La Malcontenta'' ("The Discontented"), a nickname which—according to a legend—it ...
, called the ''"Malcontenta"''. Other peculiar characteristics of the manor house are the use of the serliana
A Venetian window (also known as a Serlian window) is a large tripartite window which is a key element in Palladian architecture. Although Sebastiano Serlio (1475–1554) did not invent it, the window features largely in the work of the Italian ar ...
and, above the windows, lunettes and gables, generally painted or decorated. The covers of the loggia above the main entrance and that of the tower are wooden coffered ceilings. Other interesting elements of the Italian floral or Art Nouveau style are, for example, the wrought iron with their decorations and the dormer windows on the upper floor that go over the cornice of the building interrupting the eaves.
Internal decor
The interiors of the villa are characterized by marble staircases, parquet floors in the rooms, ceramic in the service rooms, painted wooden doors and decorated coffered ceilings. The reception room on the ground floor is uninterrupted and is still furnished as it was in the days of the Toeplitz family, with inlaid chessboard tables, a bar corner in solid wood and antique armchairs.[
]
Dome and observatory
In the project for the extension of the building immediately after the purchase by Toeplitz, an important step in the work of the architect Brasini was the design and planning of a tower crowned by an arched loggia, four on each side. The arches support the roof structure with an openable metal dome used as a scientific observatory. The mirror was made with the collaboration and supervision of Professor Emilio Bianchi, director of the Brera Astronomical Observatory and creator of the Planetarium of Milan. During the ''Second World War'', the presence of the high tower led the Germans to suspect that it was used for secret communications by Mrs. Toeplitz.
Edvige Mrozowska had to defend herself from the suspicion of being a spy in the service of the allies. At the end of the ''Second World War'', the villa was sold by Mrs Toeplitz and her son to a private company, the "''Colchide Prima''", belonging to the Mocchetti brothers of Legnano. In 1972 the complex became the property of the ''Municipality'', which used it for many years as a school.[
]
From guest house to the Ethno-Archeological Museum Castiglioni
Along the road that leads to the manor house, there is the building that Toeplitz designed to accommodate prominent figures that the banker welcomed in Varese. These included the Duke of Abruzzi
Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, (29 January 1873 – 18 March 1933) was an Italian mountaineer and explorer, briefly Infante of Spain as son of Amadeo I of Spain, member of the royal House of Savoy and cousin of the Italian King ...
, the writer Matilde Serao
200px, Matilde Serao, by "Rossi"
Matilde Serao (; gr, Ματθίλδη Σεράο; 7 March 1856 – 25 July 1927) was an Italian journalist and novelist. She was the first woman called to edit an Italian newspaper, Il ''Corriere di Roma'' an ...
, the Agnelli Agnelli () is an Italian surname literally meaning "lambs". Notable people with the surname include:
*Members of the Agnelli family, the industrial and business family of northern Italy, including:
**Edoardo Agnelli (1831–1871), Italian entreprene ...
, the Pirelli and, probably, Gabriele D'Annunzio. The building, externally, utilizes the characteristic materials of Lombard architecture and consists of a brick facade in the lower part and plaster in the upper half. The decorations in coloured bands, mainly in blue and gold, stand out in the upper part, under the roof, typical of early 20th-century architecture.[
Today it hosts the Castiglioni Museum, housing an ethnoarchaeological collection of thousands of finds, donated by the brothers Alfredo and Angelo Castiglioni to the ''Municipality of Varese''. In sixty years of research in the archaeological, anthropological and ethnological fields throughout the African continent, the two brothers collected and catalogued artefacts of the material and religious life of various ethnic groups, and made precise photo-cinematographic documentation.]
The archaeological section on the ground floor houses Egyptian and prehistoric finds. These include the graffiti casts of ''Bergiug'' and exhibits on where and how gold was mined at the time of the Egyptian pharaohs. It also tells the stories of the discovery of Berenice Pancrisia, (the "all gold city" mentioned by Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...
in his ''"Naturalis Historia"''), the origin of the silica glass, (the mysterious "glass of the stars", already known at the time of Tutankhamon), and the origin of the emeralds used since the time of Cleopatra.
The upstairs ethnographic section describes traditional populations from savannah and desert environments. These include exhibits of the typical elaborate hairstyles of the Nile Camiti, shepherds of the African savannah (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda) and other objects of their material culture. A multimedia room reveals an original Tuareg
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Alg ...
people, telling the story of the customs and traditions of the ''"blue men"''. It is unique for the quality and variety of its exhibits.
Gardens
Villa Toeplitz's Gardens consist of ''8 hectares''. They are connected by a ''"complex"'' pathways running through a connected system of exotic plans, fountains and buildings. The Park was designed in 1927 by the Parisian studio L. Collin - A. Adam & C.
Two different gardening styles compose the main Villa Toeplitz's Gardens: a "''specifically formal''" Giardino all'italiana
The Italian garden (or giardino all'italiana () is best known for a number of large Italian Renaissance gardens which have survived in something like their original form. In the history of gardening, during the Renaissance, Italy had the most ...
, characterized by low boxwood bushes and cypress trees; and an English landscape garden
The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...
, with beech trees, oaks and cedar trees. A part of the park is currently occupied by a large chestnut wood, penetrated by tracks leading to a ''"deep nature contacting experience"''.
The park also contains a series of fountains, waterfalls and symmetrical topiary
Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...
architectures, that characterize the early origins of the garden.
A natural pathway runs through a chestnut wood in the northern part of the gardens immediately behind the villa, from the southern entrance of the gardens to the northern one. It is composed of ''"sinuous and romantic"'' alleys that are interrupted by small hills and ''"elegant"'' iron gazebos. At the end of the promenade, a children's playground and a bocce field has been installed by the Administration of the ''City of Varese''.
On 21 December 1972, the Toeplitz Gardens, as well as the Villa, were acquired by the administration of the ''City of Varese''.
Styles
The structure of the Gardens defines a division between two specific gardening styles: an ''"intricate"'' and ''"elegant"'' structure that characterize a typical ''Giardino all'Italiana'' contrasting with a more natural environment composing a more moderate English Garden.
The southern part of the garden, all'Italiana, hosts ''refined'' constructions, both vegetal and non, made by gardening architects coming from the whole province. The boxwood tree was used to create topiary bushes and balloons, along with the ivy trees, while cypress trees were used to create two imponent castles. Elaeagnus
''Elaeagnus'' , silverberry or oleaster, is a genus of about 50–70 species of flowering plants in the family Elaeagnaceae.
Description
''Elaeagnus'' plants are deciduous or evergreen shrubs or small trees. The alternate leaves and the shoo ...
bushes form an intricate system of mazes.
Deeper in the gardens, right below the belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
Africa
* Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco
*Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...
, several fountains take place. Within these architectural elements, water games and water shows used to take place in the Gardens' fountains. Due to the dryness of the source that used to aliment the fountains, the water games are no longer performed.
The high number of fountains, waterfalls, topiaries and ''"little canals inspired by the Kashmir Gardens oriental tradition"'' present in the Garden, they identify it as ''"eclectic"''.
A Chestnut wood is located in the north-east part of the Gardens, just behind the villa. It was planted when the ''Toepliz family'' moved to the Villa and its heavy growth is due to the favourable climate of the Varese province, where the chestnut is one of the most widespread plants. The Chestnut wood is part of a wide economic circle in the Varese zone, the so-called ''"Chestnut Economy"''. Chestnut trees are an important resource since they are raw materials for different fields of the economy of the province. '' " Chestnut wood is used to make furniture, barrels, roof beams, posts fencing or stakes, as firewood and in the production of charcoal " '' and like so to aliment the local economy. The chestnut wood of Villa Toeplitz has also the function of ''"beekeeping"'': because "''bees are very attracted by male chestnut flowers and the subsequent honey production is large"''.
The chestnut wood, along with a series of artificial lakes and wide alleys, composes the second part of the garden, the English landscape garden.
Fountains, nymphaeum and chapel
The monumental fountain of the Villa is divided into three levels. The whole structure of the fountain is located on the side of a small hill. It is considered one of the most relevant elements of the gardens.
The lowest level is located at the centre of the main boulevard that goes from the entrance to the actual Villa. On its left side, there is an extended field in an elliptical form that is the base of a complex and elaborated path walk.[
The middle level is divided into other three parts accurate and symmetric, delimitated by ]hedge
A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoin ...
s of shrubs and a complex mesh of canals, tanks and water games. On the third level there are several fountains and terraces that lead to a ''nymphaeum'', below the belvedere, decorated with granite columns and internal tanks in majolica.
The levels of the fountain are connected by a water chain from the 15th century, composed by tanks in pink porphyry.
On the top of the hill, behind the belvedere, the Toeplitz family built a chapel. The project was entrusted to the architect Goraska, that came appositely from ''Poland''. The interiors of the chapel are decorated by frescos
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster ...
that were painted by ''Jan Henryk Rosen di Leopoli'', who also did the one in the cemetery in ''St. Ambrogio''.
Panoramic bridge, orchard and cemetery
A panoramic bridge, provided with two arches and a decorative oculus, runs along the old Toeplitz's property through ''"via dei Mulini Grassi"''. Giuseppe Toeplitz asked for permission to build it with the aim to facilitate the connection between the Gardens, that he bought years later to build the orchard and the other side of the street. The company that had the task to build the bridge, requested to have with a height of at least 5 metres, is named Zanzi. The construction was concluded in 1924.
In the ''orchard'' there were mainly cultivated apple, pear and peach trees with the espalier
Espalier ( or ) is the horticultural and ancient agricultural practice of controlling woody plant growth for the production of fruit, by pruning and tying branches to a frame. Plants are frequently shaped in formal patterns, flat against a struct ...
technique that helps the tree to have a flat structure.
Both Giuseppe Toeplitz and Edvige Mrozowska had a strong passion for floriculture and fruit farming, but in particular the woman, that used to ask suggestions to expert agronomists, and that was always flanked by the Tuscan gardener Quinto Brilli.
The particular technique used in the cultivation of apples and pears made it possible for Edvige to take part in several competitions, often winning and gaining different honours. On each fruit and vegetable's peel, she used to put a monogram of a letter ''(T)'' to sign her creations.
Giuseppe Toeplitz, according to all the workers' memories, was really dedicated to the care of the plants in the greenhouse. Every night, he used to check his plants, even if it was late.
The two spouses are both resting in peace in ''St.Ambrogio cemetery'' in one chapel with the woman's parents.
The disposition of the headstones respects the ''Slavic tradition'' and is really simple and minimal, while the outside reflects the union of several styles.
The couple has been really relevant for the history and development of the city of ''Varese'', even though there are not really considered or remembered in the present society, probably for the lack of heirs and so the lack of care for their chapel.
Bird snare and tower
Villa Toeplitz's Gardens host a series of bird snares that were once dedicated to bird hunting, an activity that was long practised by ''Mr Toeplitz''. The bird snare is the first element of the hunting set and, in the case of Villa Toeplitz, it is located by the main body of the Villa. The first bird snares were made in the 14th century by some friars and then they started to be used in Lombardy and other regions in the north of Italy.
It is made by two parts: the first component is a building made mainly by stones that, like the one in Toeplitz's Gardens, is the tower, a building developed on three levels, all with different functions. The lowest one was made for meetings, the middle one was where the birds that were used to beckon other birds rested and the top part was used by the hunters to look for birds. The second component is an arboreal structure positioned in a circle called colonnade with a big red oak at the centre.
Flora and fauna
Flora
The current botanical collections of Villa Toeplitz reflect the historic influence and international travels of Edvige Toeplitz during the garden's original creation. These include:
*Alnus glutinosa
''Alnus glutinosa'', the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. It thrives in wet locations wh ...
* Acer palmatum
* Acer pseudoplatanus
* Quercus ilex
* Catalpa
*Aucuba japonica
''Aucuba japonica'', commonly called spotted laurel, Japanese laurel, Japanese aucuba or gold dust plant (U.S.), is a shrub () native to rich forest soils of moist valleys, thickets, by streams and near shaded moist rocks in China, Korea, and ...
*Corylus avellana
''Corylus avellana'', the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia. It is an important component of the hedgerows that were the traditional field boundaries in lowland En ...
*Diospyros kaki
''Diospyros kaki'', the Oriental persimmon, Chinese persimmon, Japanese persimmon or kaki persimmon, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Diospyros''. Although its first botanical description was not published until 1780,Publis ...
* Elaeagnus pungens
*Sequoiadendron giganteum
''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (giant sequoia; also known as giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, California big tree, Wellingtonia or simply big treea nickname also used by John Muir) is the sole living species in the genus '' Sequoiad ...
*Abies nordmanniana
''Abies nordmanniana'', the Nordmann fir or Caucasian fir, is a fir indigenous to the mountains south and east of the Black Sea, in Turkey, Georgia and the Russian Caucasus. It occurs at altitudes of 900–2,200 m on mountains with pre ...
* Pinus strobus
*Cedrus libani
''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great reli ...
Fauna
The ''Chestnut Forest'' is home to a wide variety of wildlife: notably insects, amphibians, and small mammals, some of which are relatively rare. These species can all live virtually undisturbed since the forest is rarely visited by humans. In recent years, the populations of toads and frogs in the forest have grown, partly as a result of conservation efforts. Since the middle of April 2019, over 300,000 tadpoles and larvae have been moved from an area affected by restoration work in the park and they have been rehoused in a safer location in the central pool in front of the Villa. This work was carried out in collaboration with the ''Municipality of Varese'' and it made it possible to identify the presence of several common toads (''Bufo bufo
The common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (''Bufo bufo'', from Latin ''bufo'' "toad"), is a frog found throughout most of Europe (with the exception of Ireland, Iceland, and some Mediterranean islands), in ...
''), in particular 25 females and 29 males, about thirty salamanders, some Lataste frogs (''Rana latastei
The Italian agile frog (''Rana latastei''), also known as Lataste's frog, is a species of frog in the family Ranidae (true frogs). The species is native to southern Europe, primarily found in the Po River Basin of Italy. It is one of the most ...
'') and green frogs ('' Pelophylax esculentus'') at the adult stage. These amphibians will populate the park's wooded areas, enriching their biodiversity and relevance. Public appreciation of these delicate amphibians is growing, particularly during this metamorphosis phase their life cycle
Life cycle, life-cycle, or lifecycle may refer to:
Science and academia
*Biological life cycle, the sequence of life stages that an organism undergoes from birth to reproduction ending with the production of the offspring
* Life-cycle hypothesis ...
.
On 22 June 2019, for example, the LIPU, Legambiente
Legambiente is an Italian environmentalist association with roots in the anti-nuclear movement that developed in Italy and throughout the Western world in the second half of the '70s. Founded in 1980 as part of the ARCI, it later became a stand-a ...
, Gev, and Royal Rangers associations organised a meeting concerning the importance of preserving amphibians, in particular emphasising why they should not be disturbed or captured and showing the relevance of the park's biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
conservation project.
Books
Publications about Villa Toeplitz:
* Edvige Toeplitz Mrozowska, ''Visioni Orientali'', 1930
* Ludovico Toeplitz, ''Il Banchiere'', 1963
* P. Cottini, ''Ville suburbane, residenze di campagna e territorio: esempi in Lombardia ed Emilia Romagna'', 1989
* Marco Castiglioni, ''Museo Castigioni. Guida'', 2015
* Various authors, ''Itinerari del Novecento. Architettura a Varese e provincia tra le due guerre'', 2018
* G. Pacciarotti, ''Storia dell'arte a Varese e nel suo territorio, L'eclettismo nel territorio di Varese'', 2011
* Santino Langé, Flaviano Vitali, ''Ville della provincia di Varese'', 1984
Similar Historic Villas
Villa Toeplitz is one of many historic villas in Varese; some others are:
See also
External links
*(Italian website
Villa Toeplitz - Comune di Varese
*(Italian website
Museo Castiglioni
Gallery
File:View from the main Balcony.jpg , Villa Toeplitz, View from the main balcony
File:Tower Villa Toeplitz with view observatory.jpg , Villa Toeplitz, Tower and observatory
File:Front gate with monogram.jpg, Villa Toeplitz, Front gate with monogram
File:Fountain with exedra.jpg, Villa Toeplitz, Fountain with ivy
File:Photo of the Villa from the bottom.jpg, Villa Toeplitz, View from below
File:Vialetto Parterre.jpg, Villa Toeplitz, Parterre Walkway
References
{{reflist
Toeplitz
Tourist attractions in Lombardy
Buildings and structures completed in 1901
Gardens in Lombardy
Parks in Lombardy