Villa Martini

he villa was constructed around 1887 by the architect Vivarelli for the journalist, writer, and statesman Ferdinando Martini. Displaying the typically eclectic taste of the late 19th century, the two-story villa looks like an elegant square block, connected by five stairways with a raised floor. Inside, the elegant rooms with coffered ceilings are decorated with polychrome ceramic tondi. The surrounding park contains numerous specimens of prized ornamental plants and such very rare species as sequoias, camphor trees, Himalayan pines, and Atlas cedars. Following its purchase by the municipality in 1981 and a careful restoration, the villa was inaugurated on 26 June 1988 by the then President of the Senate Giovanni Spadolini. In recent years, the villa has assumed its definitive role as a museum of contemporary art and of the twentieth century for the planning and implementation of projects organized by the Department of Culture.