Villa des Vergers

Villa des Vergers
Former names	Villa Belmonte
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Villa
Architectural style	Neoclassical
Address	Via Monte L'Abate 32
Town or city	San Lorenzo in Correggiano, Rimini, Emilia-Romagna
Country	Italy
Coordinates	44°0′45.88″N 12°34′54.17″E
Named for	Adolphe Noël des Vergers
Year(s) built	17th century
Renovated	1879
Technical details
Size	4,000 square metres (43,000 sq ft)
Grounds	104,500 square metres (1,125,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Arthur-Stanislas Diet Georges Chedanne [fr]
Website
villadesvergers.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

• Villa Mussolini – a seaside villa in nearby Riccione purchased by the family of Benito Mussolini, Italy's fascist dictator, in 1934^[24]

References

1. "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. "La storia della Villa Des Vergers a Rimini" [History of the Villa Des Vergers]. Villa des Vergers (in Italian). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
4. 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. ""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. 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. "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. "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. "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. 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. "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. "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.