Villa Garnier, Bordighera

Check in: 12:30 (12:30pm) - 20:30 (8:30pm) (no arrivals allowed outside this window)

Check out: 09:30 (9:30am) - 00:00 (12:00am)

History

In 1871 Charles Garnier left Paris with his family and moved to Menton on the French Riviera, the birthplace of his wife, Louise Bary; visiting the surroundings he discovered Bordighera where he chose a land to build his villa, outside the walls of the old city, which descended towards the sea and the fishermen's beach: the famous Arziglia.

Here Garnier designed a particularly elegant Villa, in which it can be found an oriental style: in fact, even if some changes have been made from the original design, the Moorish style is still present in the structure of the tower, as thin and slender as an Arab minaret; the Villa, so particular, became a model for the architecture of the Riviera and the Côte d'Azur. Charles Garnier lived in the Villa with his wife and son Christian, a portrait of which can be seen as a child in the entrance; he used to host his friends and for this reason he bought and had numerous outbuildings built all around the Villa, some of which still exist today and which can be seen on the sides of the road that leads to the Villa, starting from the Aurelia. passed away in France, and a short time later his beloved son Christian also passed away. The widow continued to come to Bordighera during the winter season, but she no longer had the courage to return to the Villa. Upon his death, Louise linked the villa to the Sociètè de Gèographie in Paris, also leaving all the furnishings, works of art, books, etc. in addition to 200,000 francs for the maintenance of the property, with the only condition that the villa was not sold.

Despite this clause, in 1929 the villa was sold to the American art critic John Hemming Fry who, as a sign of admiration, had a monument erected in Garnier, in the Pineta del Capo, on April 28, 1935.The property then passed to the diocese of Ventimiglia and from 1954 to the Sisters of San Giuseppe of Aosta.

The Congregation was born in 1650 in France, in Puy en Velay from the meeting of the project of the Jesuit Father Jean-Pierre Medaille with the desire of six young women to live a radical Christian life in the middle of the world and not in the cloister, as they used to do This new way of living the religious life in the midst of the people responded so much to the spiritual needs of the time that very soon small communities sprang up. and he urged Mother Saint Jean to send some of them to Italy: four nuns then left Lyon for Aosta.

Since then the activity has spread first throughout the Aosta Valley, then outside the region, also arriving in Bordighera, where the nuns managed both Villa Garnier and the elementary school of the Oasis, now unfortunately closed.

Food & beverage

Staying at Villa Garnier does not only mean being guests in a pleasant historic residence, but also tasting the simple and familiar dishes prepared by the cooks Nunzia, Teresa and Sister Ancilla.From 8AM to 9AM it is possible to have breakfast, to be consumed only in the dining room.

The kitchen carries out a lunch and dinner service at a set time according to the season, to be consumed only in the dining room.

No meals included in the apartments rate. Self management kitchenette. 

Grounds & Gardens

The Garden of Villa Garnier was created by the genius of the architect Charles Garnier using "terracing": this is a very common system on the hills of these areas, whose steep slopes had to be modified in order to have a flat space for crops; the terraces, dug into the hill where the Villa stands, made it possible to obtain an area of ​​6,000 square meters. Of these, 2,500 square meters can be visited, freely accessible for comfortable and fragrant walks.

The rest of the garden is occupied by citrus plants, a small greenhouse and a vegetable garden available to the nuns.
Among a variety of Mediterranean plants such as olive, laurel, fig, tameric, citrus, several exotic essences have been inserted including the Dracena draco, the false pepper, the camphor tree, the giant strelitzia and 15 different types of palms including the Phoenix dactylifera.In the garden the visitor will be surprised to find a column from the Tuileries Palace in Paris, probably brought as a gift by friends to Garnier, a great admirer of this construction.The Garden surrounds Villa Garnier and the two buildings of the Dependance and the Villino, and is available to all guests of the rooms and apartments.

Other facilities

Villa Garnier is also a house of spirituality, to participate in enriching and profound encounters.
The quiet location, outside the center, facing the sea and surrounded by greenery, makes it a perfect place for cultural meetings, spiritual exercises, days of prayer, retreats. For these events the following are available: the Garden, the Chapel inside the Villa, the Church and the Library of the Villino, the Conference Room where it is possible to organize lessons and conferences; all events are normally open to all, lay and religious, even if not guests of the Villa.

A small library of more than 700 volumes is located in the Villino, in a very bright room, where it is possible to read the texts that belong to the collection in the utmost silence. , documents of the Church. Of course, all guests are allowed to borrow the texts for the period of stay, and to take them to the room and to all the common areas of the Villa, including the Garden and the Terrace.
In the room adjacent to the Library there is a small church open to all, where it is possible to stop and reflect, pray, meditate.

The Villa is not an ordinary hotel, where you stop only to sleep or eat, but it is also a place where the guests can really unplug and make that silence inside themself, so difficult to find in the rhythms of today's life. Spiritual Retreats are organized, in which everyone can participate. Housed in the premises of the Library, the Conference Room is available for conferences, lessons, meetings, etc. and offers 25 seats equipped with a folding desk.It is used periodically by the nuns, but can be made available to those who request it as part of the Spiritual Retreats.