Villa Reale di Marlia reopens after years of neglect

The Villa Reale di Marlia, a 16-hectare complex near Lucca, has reopened to the public after years of abandonment. Originally a Lombard fortress in the High Middle Ages, it became a residence for silk merchants of the Republic of Lucca. In the mid-17th century, the Orsetti family demolished the medieval structure and built a late-Renaissance villa. In 1806, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Duchess of Lucca, took possession and redesigned it in Neoclassical style, adding a bedroom with an Egyptian-themed imperial bed and a marble bathroom with zoomorphic bronze fixtures. Architects Pierre-Théodore Bienaimé and Giuseppe Marchelli executed her vision. The villa later passed to the Pecci-Blunt counts in 1923, who restored it and sourced early 19th-century furniture and art. The complex includes three villas, two neoclassical palazzinas, two chapels, a lemon house, and service buildings. The Palazzina dell'Orologio features a six-hour clock and is connected to the main villa by an underground corridor. The park includes an English garden, a water theater, a baroque cascade, a hedge theater (the oldest in Europe), Pan's Grotto, a Spanish garden, and 40 species of camellias. A tennis court and a Liberty-style swimming pool were added by the Pecci-Blunts, frequented by Salvador Dalí. Saved by a Swiss patron, the villa will function as a museum and cultural venue, with plans for a restoration school and art exhibitions alongside classical concerts.