Villa Zanelli is a historical building located in

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The building is an example of the

Liberty style Liberty style ( ) was the Italian variant of Art Nouveau, which flourished between about 1890 and 1914. It was also sometimes known as ("floral style"), ("new art"), or ("modern style" not to be confused with the Spanish variant of Art Nouveau ...

of residential architecture (a variant of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

most commonly found in Italy), and was completed in 1907 for the Zanelli family. Designed by the architect Gottardo Gussoni from

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, it is close to the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...

beach in the Legino district of Savona.

History and architecture

Located in a large garden by the sea, the house was built in 1907 by sea captain Nicolò Zanelli and owned by the Zanelli family until 1933, when it was sold to the municipality of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. The municipality converted the house into a camping site and an international colony. During phases of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was used as a hospital camp; traces of red crosses on the exterior walls are still visible. An architectural analysis of the building credits the villa's design to both Gottardo Gussoni and

Pietro Fenoglio Pietro Fenoglio (Turin, 3 May 1865 – Corio, 22 August 1927) was an Italian architect and engineer, considered one of the most important pioneers of Art Nouveau in Italy. Fenoglio quickly grasped the ascendancy of Art Nouveau as it appeared in ...

, two of the most noteworthy exponents of the Italian

.A. Speziali, ''Savona Liberty. Villa Zanelli e altre architetture'' (Risguardi: Forlì 2016).

Restoration

Numerous attempts to renovate and preserve the building have been made over the years by various regional and municipal administrations. The building was closed down in 1998 after a partial collapse, but in 2017, there was a major restoration of the property led by Dodi Moss. The restoration reinstated the original paths through the gardens. Additional alterations were made to accommodate increased foot traffic so that the villa could be opened to the public as a hotel and museum.

References

{{Authority control Savona Buildings and structures in Liguria Culture in Liguria Art Nouveau architecture in Italy Houses in Italy Houses completed in 1907 20th-century architecture in Italy Italian Riviera