Description of the attraction
Castello Pasquini Castle is one of the main tourist attractions in the resort town of Castiglioncello. Its construction began in 1889 after Baron Lazzaro Patrone bought a plot of land from the artist Diego Martelli. The latter was forced to sell his property in Castiglioncello and Castelnuovo, as he experienced certain financial difficulties. Architects Luparini worked on the castle project.
Castello Pasquini is built in a neo-Gothic style and resembles the famous Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Previously, in its place was the small house of Diego Martelli, who was a member of the Macchiaioli art group and who, one might say, founded the so-called “Castiglioncello School” (among its members were Giuseppe Abbati and Odoardo Borrani). During the construction of the castle, the house of Martelli, agricultural buildings and outbuildings were demolished, and the adjacent territory was turned into a park, which was intended to refine and hide the new building from prying eyes. A caretaker's house was built near the walls of the castle, the winding lines of which, especially the shape of the battlements at the top, repeated the Gothic style of the castle itself. And in the park you could see a small round chapel.
A few le after the erection of Castello Pasquini, stables were built on the territory of the park to replace those that were in Piazza della Vittoria and were sold to private hands. Later, Baron Patrone gave part of his land for the construction of a railway station building on the condition that it repeats the Gothic style of the castle, but does not surpass it. In the 1930s, residents of the city opposed the baron's project to build a treadmill and other buildings, and he was forced to give up all of his possessions in Castiglioncello and Castelnuovo. In 1938, he even sold the castle and the park, and in the second half of the 1940s, the Pasquini family became the owner of Castello, whose name the castle bears to this day. The Pasquini carried out the restoration of the castle and the park, completely changing its romantic appearance. A tennis court, bowling alley and dance floor were set up in the park. And in the early 1980s, the declining Castello Pasquini was bought by the city municipality and turned into a cultural center. Today, theatrical and dance performances, exhibitions and conferences are held within its walls, and a theater and a coffee bar have been built in the park.
