Park and Villa Luca, an Art Museum by the Sea
Villa Luca is a beautiful late 19th-century villa located in Coldirodi, in the municipality of Sanremo. Once owned by the Cassini family, the Villa now houses the prestigious Rambaldi Art Gallery.
Created in 1865, the Rambaldi Art Gallery is a treasure trove of art, history and literature. The collection, which includes paintings and a library, was established by the priest Paolo Stefano Rambaldi. An art lover and refined humanist, the priest Paolo Stefano Rambaldi spent many years in Florence, where he was rector of the Archiepiscopal Major Seminary in Piazza di Castello. Here, he began to form and enrich his collection, which he then decided to donate to the village of Coldirodi, where he was born.
The paintings include The Vision of St. Philip Neri attributed to the Tuscan painter Mario Balassi, and the painting Saint Sebastian Tended by the Pious Women by Michele Rocca. As for literary works, in addition to ancient manuscripts and incunabula, of great importance is the correspondence that Paolo Stefano Rambaldi maintained with writers of his time, including Alessandro Manzoni, Silvio Pellico and Vincenzo Gioberti.
Villa Luca and the Rambaldi Art Gallery are surrounded by a magnificent garden, with palm trees and terraced green areas, from which one can admire the beautiful coastal landscape of the Riviera.
