{"id":55326,"date":"2026-10-03T20:26:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T20:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/darkseagreen-rook-345411.hostingersite.com\/cosa-vedere\/villa-marigola-2\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T20:26:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T20:26:05","slug":"villa-marigola","status":"publish","type":"punto_interesse","link":"https:\/\/italian-riviera.com\/en\/what-to-see\/villa-marigola\/","title":{"rendered":"Villa Marigola"},"content":{"rendered":"

Villa Marigola stands on the headland between Lerici and San Terenzo, set in a park overlooking the Gulf of Poets. It is one of the most beautiful historic residences in Liguria: a villa that began life as a farming estate, was turned into a holiday home by the English and welcomed poets, painters and crowned heads. Its Italian garden by the sea is one of the few in Italy to have been so well preserved.<\/p>\n

\"Villa<\/figure>\n

History of Villa Marigola<\/h2>\n

As early as the Middle Ages the Marigola headland was a lookout point over the sea. In the 16th century the Barnabite fathers built a small monastery on the remains of the fortification. At the end of the 18th century the property was bought by the Ollandini marquises, who turned it into a farming estate producing oil and wine, with citrus trees trained along the walls.<\/p>\n

In 1888 the villa passed to the English banker Sir Reginald Pearse, who turned it into a holiday home in the spirit of the British travellers who had fallen in love with the gulf. Its present appearance, however, is the work of the architect Franco Oliva, who between 1926 and 1949 worked for the new owner, the shipowner Gio Batta Bibolini, redesigning the villa and its gardens. Today Villa Marigola belongs to Carispezia, part of the Cr\u00e9dit Agricole group, which looks after its upkeep and uses it as a conference centre and venue for cultural events.<\/p>\n

The park and gardens<\/h2>\n

The park spreads across the headland among holm oaks, maritime pines, olive trees and Mediterranean plants, with shady paths and viewpoints over the sea. At its heart is the Italian garden in front of the villa: geometric hedges, flowerbeds and terraces stepping down towards the gulf, one of the rare examples of a formal garden looking directly onto the sea. Next to it is a freer, English-style section.<\/p>\n

At the entrance you come to the so-called B\u00f6cklin garden, a small, shady artificial grotto in rocaille style, dedicated to the Swiss painter who used to visit the villa. From the terraces the view stretches from Lerici and its castle to Portovenere and the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto. It is considered the most spectacular view of the Gulf of La Spezia.<\/p>\n

Famous guests<\/h2>\n

The charm of the Marigola has drawn many of the leading figures of the Gulf of Poets. According to tradition the villa captivated Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron, who lived and sailed in the gulf in the 1820s, and later writers such as D. H. Lawrence and the playwright Sem Benelli. Guests also included the Empress Frederick of Germany, daughter of Queen Victoria, and the painter Arnold B\u00f6cklin. In the 20th century the gulf and the villa also inspired the poet Attilio Bertolucci.<\/p>\n

How to visit Villa Marigola<\/h2>\n

Villa Marigola is not a museum with fixed opening hours: it is a private conference centre and opens to the public only on specific occasions.<\/p>\n