Villa Paolina description and photos - Italy: Viareggio (Topic)

Villa Paolina description and photos - Italy: Viareggio. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Villa Paolina.

Photo and description

Villa Paolina is the former summer residence of Paolina Bonaparte, sister of the French emperor Napoleon, located in the resort town of Viareggio. Today, the villa houses the Alberto Carlo Blanca Archaeological Museum, opened in 1986, the Lorenzo Viano Art Gallery and the Giovanni Chuffreda Musical Instruments Museum (the last two museums were opened in 1994).

The Lorenzo Viano Art Gallery was created back in 1974, and only twenty years after its opening it was moved to Villa Paolina. Its exhibits are arranged in chronological order and include paintings, drawings, sketches and slides with description plates. In total, 64 works of modern art are kept in 4 rooms of the villa.

The Musical Instrument Museum of Giovanni Chuffreda occupies six rooms of Villa Paolina, with about 400 exhibits, including a pochetta - a tiny 17th century pocket violin, an 18th century Neapolitan mandolin and a collection of instruments from all over Europe.

The Alberto Carl Blanca Archaeological Museum, also known as the Blanca Museum, was opened in 1986. It exhibits artifacts found on the Versailles Riviera on the Tuscan coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea - handcrafted stone objects, fossils from the Paleolithic era, pottery from the Neolithic period, copper and bronze items from the Iron Age. In general, the museum's exhibits give an idea of human evolution over a long period before the invention of writing.

Villa Paolina itself is considered one of the most notable buildings in Viareggio. It was built in the northern part of the city, on the seashore, in 1822 by Giovanni Lazzarini. At first, the villa was the summer residence of Napoleon Bonaparte's sister Paolina, then it housed a closed boarding house, and later a secondary school. During the Second World War, the two-storey villa was seriously damaged, but in the 1980s it was carefully restored. Today, in addition to the three museums, tourists are attracted by the villa's three gardens. The northern garden is connected to the villa and is used as an open-air living room - it is decorated with flower beds, fruit trees and vineyards. The southern garden is separated from the villa by a road - there is a small vegetable garden and another vineyard on its territory. Finally, the so-called "natural garden" is surrounded by a beautiful beach.

We also recommend reading Sculpture Garden description and photo - Ukraine: Kharkov

Topic: Villa Paolina description and photos - Italy: Viareggio.