Villa Durazzo Pallavicini is a historical ensemble in Genoa, consisting of a villa and an adjacent park.
Today Villa Durazzo Pallavicini can be visited.
An archaeological museum is located within the walls of the villa, and a large adjacent Anglo-Italian-style park contains historical monuments, reservoirs and a botanical garden.
In 2017, the villa park was chosen as the most beautiful garden in Italy.
The villa and the park, in their current form, date back to the middle of the nineteenth century, but the original complex, formerly the mansion of the Grimaldi family, dates back to the eighteenth century.
The estate was founded at the end of the 17th century by Clelia Durazzo Grimaldi, who at the same time founded the botanical garden of Clelia Durazzo Grimaldi. Subsequently, the estate was inherited by Clelia's nephew Ignazio Alessandro Pallavicini, under whom the current villa park was created.
The park was designed by Michele Canzio and built on a hill near the villa in 1840-1846. After opening in September 1846, the park quickly gained national fame. In 1928, the then owner of the park, Matilda Gustinani, donated the estate to the city of Genoa for use as a public park.
Over time, the garden fell into disrepair, but in 1991 its restoration began in honor of the discovery of America by Columbus.
Today, the Villa Durazzo Pallavicini houses the Ligurian Archaeological Museum, which was opened in 1936 and now tells about the peoples who inhabited Liguria.
Among the most important exhibits of the archaeological museum are: Paleolithic burials, including the burials of a tall and strong young man about 15 years old, who died from severe trauma about 24,000 years ago; a bronze table Polcevera, testifying to the life of the peoples of the Genoese hinterland in the second century BC and a statue of a stele from Zignago.
Durazzo Pallavicini Park is spread out on the hilly terrain behind the villa and occupies 8 hectares, and is also one of the best examples of Italian and European old romantic garden.
The highest point of the park is located at an altitude of 144 meters above sea level.
In the park: the gardens of the palace-villas, two ponds, streams, waterfalls, several notable garden buildings, various statues and an extensive grotto, representing Dante's hell with walking paths and an underground lake through which visitors can climb to Paradise.
The park's structures include a coffee house in the form of a triumphal arch, a village house, a Madonna chapel, a captain's mausoleum, a Diana temple, a flower house, a Turkish temple, an obelisk and a Chinese pagoda.
The park also has several plantings of botanical interest.
The route through the park is about 2.7 kilometers and is formed by five zones.
Practical information
Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini is located west along the coast from the center of Genoa, in the area of Pella or Pegli (Pegli), at: Via Pallavicini, 13.
Coordinates of Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini: 44°25'33.0"N 8°49'02.0"E (44.425833, 8.817222).
Entrance to the villa and the park is paid.
You can find out the opening hours of the villa and the park, the conditions of visit, the cost of tickets and purchase them on the official website of Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini: villadurazzopallavicini.
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