Villa Etelinda

Villa Etelinda was built in Bordighera on Via Romana by Raphaël Bischoffsheim, a German banker who lived in Paris.

The villa was designed by the French architect Charles Garnier, the man behind the Paris Opéra, who reused some features of his own villa in Bordighera: the elegant, slender turret and the polychrome mosaics on the façade. The gardens were designed by Ludwig Winter, the renowned landscape architect who also created the Hanbury Gardens in Ventimiglia.

The villa was later sold to members of the English nobility and finally, in 1914, the villa and its vast garden were bought by Queen Margherita of Savoy, who chose Bordighera as her residence and spent the last years of her life here.

Villa Etelinda is the work of two remarkable 19th-century designers: Charles Garnier, who designed the villa itself, and Ludwig Winter, who designed the park.

This wonderful villa overlooking via Romana was commissioned by the German banker Raphaël Bischoffsheim.

After a somewhat troubled history and several owners, the villa was sold to Queen Margherita of Savoy.

Today it can be visited on special occasions or by appointment.