Villa Alba

Villa Alba was built between 1901 and 1910 by architect Richard Langensiepen in an evidently Neoclassical style. The architectural complex is in fact modelled on Greek examples, and there is an obvious attempt to draw on the motifs of the Parthenon and more generally on the monuments of the Athens Acropolis. This was expressly desired by the owner, the architect Shaefer. In fact, the villa, which is accessed via a staircase, has a façade that exactly follows that of the temple in the Greek capital. This is evident not only in the gable motifs, which reproduce the same mythological scenes, but also in the presence of the caryatids, identical to those on the Erechtheion. Internally, the villa has vast and elegant rooms, with the main floor opening directly onto a vast garden. In addition to the presence of statues of direct Greek imitation, the adherence to the Neoclassical style can be seen applied in the repetition of Ionic columns, often coupled, in the constant search for symmetry, evident both in plan and elevation, in the horizontal development of the building, constructed using, stone, marble and plaster for part of the decorations. Interesting then is the presence of ashlar stone ashlars, winking at a certain neo-Renaissance style. Magnificent then is the garden, which has become a public park, equipped with fountains and full of all kinds of plants and animals, in which the visitor can find that peace in the landscape that the villa's original name, Ruhland, indicated.