The hills surrounding Lucca are dotted with some very fine villas which not only provide an escape from the city’s often torrid summer heat but also supply their owners with farm produce, especially olives and wine.

One of the most notable of these villas is the ‘Villa Reale di Marlia’ Napoleon’s sister Elisa’s favourite summer residence during her time as princess of Lucca and where Paganini was her music teacher. Elisa transformed the old medieval structure into an elegant palace in the latest neo-classical fashion and redesigned its grounds into Italy’s first English-style landscape gardens with their broad natural vistas.

After the fall of the principality the property passed into the hands of Maria Louisa of the Bourbons and a long period of decadence subsequently followed. Luckily in 1923 the Villa Reale was purchased by the Italo-American Pecci-Blunt family who set about restoring it and turning it into a mecca for artists and cultural activities. One of their guests was Dali.

The Villa’s chapel is the resting place for the deceased members of this distinguished family.

It must be terrible to have to part with such a gorgeous property but sadly this is what happened;

(Camilla was a talented photographer of celebrities. Her husband managed the Rolling Stones’ recordings).

the villa entered into a second phase of dilapidation as the family decayed until in 2015 it was saved by a shining knight in the form of a young Swiss couple who had fallen in love with it. Five years of thorough restoration of the villa and its gardens ensued. Frescoes were cleaned, ornamental details were reinstated, furnishings and musical instruments were refurbished and the grounds were returned to their former glory. Most important for visitors the Villa itself was open to the public for the first time (The Pecci Blunts only allowed entry to the gardens) and from this year we are now able to enjoy the property’s varied charms.

(The times of opening together with many other details about the Villa Reale are shown on its web site at: https://villarealedimarlia.it/. Booking is necessary as entry numbers are limited).

Despite the strictures of Covid-19 it’s quite amazing how new life has been breathed into the villa and, in particular, through the various events it is programming.

We attended one of these events last Monday. It was ‘Shooting Star Night’, known in Italian as ‘La Notte di San Lorenzo’, when one wishes upon a star (or more correctly meteors and comets) and hopes that a request may be realised.

The wish to see a villa resplendent in all its original animated glory was certainly realised for us and the gardens were filled with varied events relating to the theme of the night. We started with a little refreshment, including a glass of Camellia gin, at the refreshment gazebo.

We then proceeded to Pan’s grotto with its eccentric sculptures.

Here a group of gifted singers dressed in the high-waisted empire style, entertained us with arias from Mozart and Bel canto operas.

We accompanied some of them on a tour of the grounds as passengers in a horse-drawn wagonette.

It was truly a sweet manner to be whisked away to a different more leisurely era (except for those ubiquitous face-masks which must be worn!)

The Villa’s gardens are divided into very different areas. First there’s the grand central lawn with views south to the Pisan Mountain

and north towards the Pizzorne hills.

The variety of trees and shrubs is remarkable: mimosa, camellia, magnolia, weeping willow, Gingko Biloba, hibiscus, and many others are all found in the grounds.

The Spanish garden, inspired by the Alhambra, was filled with bubbles by a very talented artiste who captured the attention of children of all ages.

The two limonaie (orangeries) were the location for an art and a photographic exhibition, the latter concentrating on pictures of the cosmos.

The Teatro Della Verzura (or theatre of greenery) with its manicured hedges and terracotta statuettes was the venue for a dramatic monologue dealing with Dorian Gray.

In the lemon garden acrobats and singers amused us as dusk approached and coloured lights were switched on.

We then visited the Villa Reale which has been perfectly restored – some might say too perfectly, but then there are still some fitments missing, curtains and draperies for example. One downstairs room was dedicated to the restoration with ‘before and after’ pictures. Everything has received the attention of the Swiss couple from the painted door panels to the ceiling decorations, from the Napoleonic bed to the harp and fortepiano. It has been truly a labour of love. One might say how lovely it is for people to be able to live again in this charming pleasure palace. However, the truth is the owners do not actually reside there but in the bishop’s ex-palace further along in the grounds. (No  photographs inside the villa are allowed).

There are so many water features in the Villa’s park: a grand pond, the rivulets and fountains of the Spanish gardens,

an art-deco swimming pool, the gorgeous colonnade

and pond of the lemon garden

and the semi-circular water theatre with its cascade behind the villa.

Our enchanted evening concluded with an open-air talk by members of the Capannori observatory on the phenomena of ‘La Notte di San Lorenzo’. We learned the difference between comets, meteors and meteorites and, with the help of a laser, constellations and stars were pointed out to us. For instance, I finally found where Vega, the brightest star in the constellation of Lyra, is positioned and where Saturn is located.

There are plenty more events planned including a repeat of the one we attended and a cosplay day. Everything is well-marked on the villa’s web site. However, it is essential to pre-book; we obtained our tickets a week before our event which was just as well since it was sold out on the day. (Numbers are, again, limited by Covid 19 rules).

I just wish that Bagni di Lucca could have its own shining knight coming to the rescue of some of its own palatial dwellings like the Villas Ada and Fiori, for example. Is there anyone out there who missed buying the Villa Reale but is happy with something more modest?