WINTER GARDEN [IT]

Exploration #24 Winter garden. This marvelous old building is located in the hills behind Livorno. The complex has nineteenth-century origins and was composed of a large villa, a winter garden and a private chapel.

After being owned by a Russian consul and a Polish prince, in 1847 the villa passed into the hands of Pandely Maurogordato, a wealthy merchant of Greek origin from Livorno. The Maurogordato changed the appearance of the villa, giving it a much more elegant appearance and enriching it with a large romantic garden planted with cedars of Lebanon, Aleppo pines, eucalyptus, lime trees, plane trees, holm oaks, cypresses and oaks, occupying almost eight hectares of land. A few years later, in 1871, the Gambaro brothers’ foundry carried out its most prestigious work: a winter garden, characterised by a Victorian-style cast iron structure shielded by coloured glass, which is still an interesting example of iron architecture in the area of Livorno.

During the Second World War the family had to abandon the villa and in 1949 the Maurogordato heirs sold the complex, which today belongs to the Municipality of Livorno. Today the property is in a state of complete abandonment and the numerous restoration projects have never reached final approval. Over the years, the interiors have been stripped of their elegant majolica stoves and some of the marble pediments of the fireplaces. The small greenhouse is completely overgrown with vegetation that now forms a bucolic harmony with the structure… visiting it one almost expects to find it inhabited by elves and goblins. The chapel, on the other hand, has been completely restored and now houses a cultural association, while the park is open to the public.