Villa Cahen (Allerona)

Villa Cahen is 4 kilometers from the historic center of Allerona, in the estate of Selva di Meana. It was built by Edward Cahen, of Jewish family arrived in Italy from Antwerp.

Banker and financier, Edward became an Italian citizen in 1866 and was able to build a personal empire, thanks to speculation in the capital. In 1880 he acquired by the family of Bourbon del Monte immense agricultural property in between Lazio and Umbria, here separated by the river Paglia: while the Lazio side adapted to residence romantic neo-medieval castle of Torre Alfina, on the Umbrian began the construction of this villa that after his death in 1894, was completed by his sons-Rodolfo Teofilo and Ugo, who divided the two properties opposite each. The building of the villa, simple and elegant, is Art Nouveau, with particular emphasis given to the two fronts on which you set the Italian gardens, those to the valley and to the east. In the corner between the two main elevations There is a greenhouse in iron and glass and this is the character of the entire complex, ie the integration built-nature through a garden whose image is modeled as an object of contemplation lived, typical of the liberal economy and the bourgeoisie. It is a great composite garden, designed by French landscape Henri and Achille Duchêne and divided into five areas inspired in different styles and dedicated to different functions: a semi-natural, with tall trees such as pines, oaks, cedars, palms, pines blacks, hedges and ornamental shrubs; the most adjacent to the Villa, inspired by the formal Italian gardens, parterre called, without trees but with a large presence of floricole ornamental plants; one inspired by the English style, with metal supports for climbing plants; the area of ​​the greenhouses behind the villa and the orangery; and finally the one inspired by the Japanese style, with rocks and waterfalls. They were cultivated countless exotic species, a kind of collecting botanical equivalent to the artistic, kind of tapestries, which They collected inside the villa.

DSCN3910 DSCN3803 DSC04130

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Comment

Name

Email

Url