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Villa Cavallotti stands east of the archaeological park and was built to eliminate the medieval moat dating back to 1895.

In 1902, the local administration decided to build a public garden for the citizens and chose the plot of land on the right of Porta Nuova, which had been unused and uncultivated after the demolition of a previous structure.

The garden was designed and built by Giuseppe Grasso in 1895; it was initially named after Beniamino Crispi but was later renamed in honour of Felice Cavallotti, a radical politician who had tragically died. In the Fascist period, the statue with the bust of Cavallotti was removed and in 1932, the Villa regained its original name. Only in 1943, the statue of Cavallotti returned to its place and the complex was officially and permanently re-named “Villa Cavallotti”.

The garden is structured on a rectangular plan with two floors: the upper one is part of San Francesco bastion, while below there’s the actual covered area where the moat used to be.

The XIX century style of the garden is a precious testament to a society in profound evolution, but at the same time linked to cultural values of the past. It looks similar to many “strolling gardens”, with straight or curved avenues leading to circular or square open spaces; the wide paths are bordered by well-developed plants such as Ficus elastica and F. magnoloides.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)