Villa des Vergers

Countryside villa in Rimini, Italy

  • Arthur-Stanislas Diet
  • Georges Chedanne [fr]
Websitevilladesvergers.it

The Villa des Vergers is a countryside villa in San Lorenzo in Correggiano, a frazione of Rimini, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy.[1][2] Dating to the 17th century,[1][3] the villa was purchased by Adolphe Noël des Vergers in 1843,[1][4] and substantially redesigned in 1879 by Arthur-Stanislas Diet.[3] Between 1938 and 1946, it was owned by Mario Ruspoli, 2nd Prince of Poggio Suasa,[1] who employed Pietro Porcinai to design the villa's gardens.[1][5] The villa was used as a military headquarters by German forces in the Second World War,[3][6] and has since been owned by a series of local entrepreneurs.[3][7]

Since 2021, the villa has hosted civil wedding ceremonies.[8][9] It is also used for corporate events.[10]

History

17th-century records attest to a villa in San Lorenzo in Correggiano owned by the Riminese Diotallevi family.[1][3] In later years, the villa was owned by the Belmonte family,[4] whose final owner, Giovan Maria Belmonti Stivivi,[3] hosted Napoleon Bonaparte at the villa.[1]

In 1843, the villa was purchased by Adolphe Noël des Vergers.[1][4] The des Vergers family entertained notable guests at the villa.[3] With the death of Hèlene Noël des Vergers in 1934, the family left the villa.[3] In 1938, collections from the library were accommodated in the purpose-built Sala des Vergers in Rimini's Biblioteca Civica Gambalunga.[11]

Between 1938 and 1946, the villa was owned by Mario Ruspoli, 2nd Prince of Poggio Suasa.[1] During the Second World War, the building was used by the occupying Germans as a military headquarters.[3][6] On two occasions, partisans attacked officers and couriers on their way to the villa.[6] Some structures in the villa also sheltered local residents.[3] The villa was a military target in the Battle of Coriano, and was captured by the Royal 22nd Regiment on the afternoon of 15 September 1944.[12]

In 1946, the villa was acquired by Attilio Castiglioni; following his death in 1988, it was bought by Luigi Annibali and Piero Reggini.[3] In 1994,[1] the villa was purchased by Andrea Angelo Facchi,[1][7] a local entrepreneur.[7] In the early 2000s, the villa was the start of an annual nativity procession in San Lorenzo.[13][14] In 2007, the villa's degradation, especially that of its chapel and garden, prompted an appeal for public intervention by Riccionese writer Rosita Copioli [it]. In its response, Rimini's municipal government emphasised the difficulty of public intervention given the villa's private ownership.[15]

Following Facchi's death in 2012, the villa entered into the property of his heirs.[1] In 2016, the villa was advertised for sale at a reported price of €12 million.[1]

In September 2020, Antonio Pappalardo [it], an Italian anti-vaccination politician and former carabinieri general, announced a symposium at the villa to plan the arrest of Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy, and form a new national government.[16][17]

In 2021, Rimini's municipal government approved the hosting of civil wedding ceremonies in the villa.[8][9] The venue hire cost was initially fixed at €2,500.[18]

Architecture and layout

The villa measures almost 4,000 square metres (43,000 sq ft),[1][19] with 48 rooms, including 20 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.[1] It was substantially redesigned in 1879 by Arthur-Stanislas Diet using Istrian stone, and also features the work of Georges Chedanne [fr].[3] Designed in neoclassical style,[3] the villa is among the few local examples of Napoleon III's architecture.[20] It includes a chapel.[1][15]

The property's total size is 104,500 square metres (1,125,000 sq ft), of which 74,600 square metres (803,000 sq ft) are gardens.[21] The park surrounding the villa was designed by Pietro Porcinai,[1][5] during Ruspoli's ownership of the villa.[21][15] Two-thirds of the park is wooded, particularly the perimeter.[3] The garden is oriented to the south, with a rectangular pool at its end and flanked by holm oaks.[21] It contains sculptures with mythological themes.[22]

The property also includes a 1,700-square-metre (18,000 sq ft) farm,[1][19] as well as a citrus orchard, two guardhouses on either side of the entrance gate,[3] three greenhouses, and a belvedere.[19]

Listed status

The first regulatory protections for the villa were adopted by Gaston des Vergers in 1913.[1][15] In 1993, a local residents' association campaigned for the protections to be extended to the surrounding hill.[15] On 3 January 1996, the villa was designated a site of considerable landscape interest (Italian: notevole interesse paesaggistico), subjecting it to particular regulations under the Superintendency of Ravenna and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage.[19]

In popular culture

The villa features in the music video for Lo specchio dell’anima, a 2023 song by Gianni Drudi [it].[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Villa Des Vergers in vendita per dodici milioni" [Villa Des Vergers for sale for twelve million]. Corriere Romagna (in Italian). 11 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  2. ^ Lessi, Valerio (25 November 2015). "Des Vergers: quando Rimini era al centro della cultura europea" [Des Vergers: When Rimini was at the centre of European culture]. Buongiorno Rimini (in Italian). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "La storia della Villa Des Vergers a Rimini" [History of the Villa Des Vergers]. Villa des Vergers (in Italian). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Zaghini, Paolo (9 April 2018). "La Rimini ai tempi del Conte Belmonte, piccola e tartassata ma nel pieno della storia" [Rimini at the time of Count Belmonte: Small and harassed, but in the midst of history]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b ""Vivi Verde": nel week end i cancelli della storica Villa des Vergers" ["Vivi Verde": The gates of the historic Villa des Vergers over the weekend]. RiminiToday (in Italian). 1 October 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Zaghini, Paolo (27 October 2018). "Ivo Lotti, il partigiano che fondò l'Unipol" [Ivo Lotti: The partisan who founded Unipol]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "Addio a Facchi, il signore dei Grand Hotel" [Goodbye to Facchi, the lord of the Grand Hotel]. Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 8 January 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Rimini wedding destination: anche Villa Des Vergers tra le sedi per celebrare i matrimoni civili" [Rimini wedding destination: Villa Des Vergers also among the venues for celebrating civil weddings]. RiminiToday (in Italian). 30 July 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Da Germania e Inghilterra per sposarsi a Rimini. In riva al mare e al Grand Hotel le location gettonate" [From Germany and England to get married in Rimini. The popular locations are by the sea and at the Grand Hotel]. RiminiToday (in Italian). 14 September 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  10. ^ "I sessant'anni preziosi della gioielleria Baleani" [The sixty precious years of Baleani jewellery]. Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 10 July 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Al via i festeggiamenti per i 400 anni della Gambalunga, tra libri proibiti e sale antiche" [The celebrations for the 400th anniversary of Gambalunga are underway, among forbidden books and ancient rooms]. RiminiToday (in Italian). 23 April 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  12. ^ Montemaggi, Amedeo (1997). "Le due battaglie di Coriano: un altro significativo avvenimento sul fronte della Linea Gotica nel Settembre 1944" [The two battles of Coriano: Another significant event on the Gothic Line front in September 1944] (PDF). lineagotica.eu (in Italian). Parma: Storia Militare. p. 42. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Il Presepe Vivente di San Lorenzo in Correggiano alla Villa des Vergers" [The Living Nativity of San Lorenzo in Correggiano at the Villa des Vergers]. newsrimini.it (in Italian). 21 December 2001. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Una tradizione lunga 8 secoli: una carrellata sui presepi del territorio" [An eight-century long tradition: An overview of the local nativity scenes]. newsrimini.it (in Italian). 24 December 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d e Copioli, Rosita (14 June 2007). "Villa del Vergers: l'appello di Rosita Copioli, l'intervento di Pivato" [Villa del Vergers: Rosita Copioli's appeal, Pivato's intervention]. newsrimini.it (in Italian). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  16. ^ Piccari, Nando (8 September 2020). ""Un colpo di sole, più che un colpo di Stato"" [“A coup d'état, more than a coup d'état”]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  17. ^ "Gilet arancioni: "12 settembre in Rimini assemblea per decidere l'arresto di Giuseppi Conte"" [Orange Vests: "Assembly on 12 September in Rimini to decide on the arrest of Giuseppi Conte"]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). 1 September 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  18. ^ Gradara, Mario (13 September 2021). "Nozze da film: galeotta fu la quarantena" [Movie wedding: Quarantine was a disaster]. Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d "Dati tecnici della Villa Des Vergers a Rimini" [Technical data of the Villa Des Vergers]. Villa des Vergers (in Italian). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Rimini città dell'amore, anche dall'estero arrivano per il "sì": i gioielli in città dove si coronano i fiori d'arancio" [Rimini city of love, even from abroad they come for the "yes": The jewels in the city where the orange blossoms crown]. RiminiToday (in Italian). 22 January 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  21. ^ a b c "Alla scoperta dei "tesori" verdi, tra ville e giardini" [Discovering the green "treasures", among villas and gardens]. RiminiToday (in Italian). 20 September 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  22. ^ Barin, Chiara (22 September 2016). "Vivi il verde, i giardini aperti in Emilia Romagna" [Experience the greenery: The open gardens in Emilia-Romagna]. Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  23. ^ "Un nuovo album per Gianni Drudi" [A new album for Gianni Drudi]. Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 12 February 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  24. ^ Zaghini, Paolo (28 August 2022). "Quando i Mussolini venivano a Riccione" [When the Mussolinis came to Riccione]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). Retrieved 24 December 2023.