Description of the attraction
Villa Durazzo Pallavicini, which today houses the Archaeological Museum of Liguria, is located on Via Pallavicini, 13, near the train station of Pella, a suburb of Genoa. The attraction of the villa is a wonderful 19th century English-style park and a small botanical garden. Unlike the museum, the park and garden are open daily.
The current estate was built at the end of the 17th century for Clelia Durazzo Grimaldi, who became the founder of the botanical garden of her name. And the park was created by her nephew Ignazio Alessandro Pallavicini after he inherited the villa.
The project for the park, which was laid out in 1840-1846, was designed by Michele Canzio, who also worked on the Teatro Carlo Felice. The park is located on a hill behind the villa and covers an area of 97 thousand square meters. Despite the fact that it is executed in a typical English style, it is quite theatrical - its plaza is organized as a series of scenes that form a play with a prologue and three acts (Return to Nature, Remembrance, Purification). Various buildings and statues scattered throughout the park are also part of this "performance".
The park was opened to the public in 1846 on the occasion of the VIII Congress of Italian Scientists and immediately received international recognition. In 1928, the owner of the park, Matilda Gustinani, presented it to the people of Genoa along with the botanical garden. True, in the 20th century both the villa and the surrounding lands fell into some desolation. They were seriously threatened in 1972 during the construction of a nearby high-speed highway. Fortunately, the historic estate was preserved, and in 1991 it was restored to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus. Most of the park is open to the public today.
On its territory you can see two ponds, a dozen interesting buildings, various sculptures and a vast grotto, which is Dante's Purgatory. Walking through its covered passages and underground lake, visitors can enter Paradise. Among the buildings of the park, one can distinguish the Coffee House in the form of a triumphal arch, the Chapel of the Madonna, the Captain's Mausoleum, the Temple of Diana, the Flower House, the Turkish Temple, the Obelisk and the Chinese Pagoda. And in the botanical garden you can admire araucaria, cedar, cinnamon, palm, oak and various exotic flowers.
