Villa Marigola

What is it today, and can you visit?

Since 1979 the property has belonged to the Cassa di Risparmio della Spezia, now Carispezia. Sources describe it as a congress centre and events venue (conferences, exhibitions, ceremonies); the Grandi Giardini Italiani network, which the villa belongs to, speaks of a park open to visitors and of cultural events. We found neither stable public opening hours nor a calendar of openings for 2026.

• Visit by reservation: the museionline.info listing (updated December 2024) says the gardens can be visited by reservation for groups, at €8 full and €5 reduced, and asks you to agree the hours with the villa.
• Public opening: in the past the park has opened for limited periods. In 2021, for example, every day from 8 to 20 August, 4 pm to 9 pm, at €5 with parking included.
• Events: for exhibitions, concerts or other events, access depends on the organiser.

Do not turn up at the gate hoping to get in: write or phone first.

History of Villa Marigola

The first villa was built in the second half of the 18th century by the Ollandini marquises, as an estate producing oil and wine with espaliered citrus trees: more a country house than a grand residence. The large terrace held a citrus garden. The later stages, according to Wikipedia and Grandi Giardini Italiani:

• 1836: bought by the Florentine Maccarani marquises; the park takes on a romantic character, with paths leading to viewpoints.
• 1888: passes to the English banker Sir Reginald Pearse, who decorates the rooms in Liberty style and adds ornamental trees to the holm-oak wood, creating an English-style park.
• Early 20th century: owned by the Magni Griffi marquises. The playwright Sem Benelli stayed in the Torretta, a building on the estate.
• 1926: shipowner Gio Batta Bibolini buys it and commissions the architect Franco Oliva to extend the villa and reorganise the park (work until 1949, according to Grandi Giardini Italiani).
• 1979: ownership passes to the Cassa di Risparmio della Spezia.

The park and the Italian garden

The present layout is Oliva’s: he linked the evergreen wood behind the villa to the Italian parterre along a single axis. The parterre has borders of box and stachys, looks towards Lerici Castle and is framed by cypresses and large magnolias. According to Grandi Giardini Italiani it is one of the few Italian gardens by the sea that is still well preserved: that is the network’s view, not a measurable fact.

At the entrance stands the so-called Böcklin garden, a small shaded rocaille imitating a grotto; the name recalls the Swiss painter Arnold Böcklin, mentioned among the visitors in Pearse’s time. From the terraces you see Lerici Castle, the bay of San Terenzo with its own castle, the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto and the outline of Portovenere.

The poets: do not mix up the villas

The Gulf of Poets is tied to Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley, but their home was Villa Magni, in San Terenzo, on the waterfront. Sources on Marigola only mention a “white house” on the beach, once part of the estate, linked to Shelley’s stay. We found no evidence that Shelley or Byron were guests of the villa on the headland, so we do not claim it.

Getting there

The villa is at Via Biaggini 1, between the Venere Azzurra beach and San Terenzo. The “castle to castle” promenade between Lerici and San Terenzo is about 3 km on the flat (from our Lerici guide); we have not verified a walking time to the gate.

• By bus: from La Spezia Centrale, ATC lines L and S reach Lerici in about 30 minutes, via San Terenzo and the Venere Azzurra. Timetables at ATC Esercizio.
• By car: the largest car park in the municipality is La Vallata, on the SP331 above the Venere Azzurra; in summer the centre and San Terenzo have a restricted traffic zone (ZTL). Prices and rules are in our guide to parking in Lerici. Ask when you book whether the villa has parking of its own for visitors.

What to see nearby

• Lerici Castle, with published opening hours, from where you can see the Marigola headland.
• The beaches of Lerici and San Terenzo.
• Villa Magni in San Terenzo: private, seen from outside only.
• Tellaro, the fishing village beyond Fiascherino.
• Portovenere by boat, from late March to early November.
• The wider picture in the Gulf of Poets.