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The architects of the past
Architetti
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From the 18th century to the 20th century, more or less well-known architects and landscapers contributed to the birth and development of Montecatini Terme. Through careful work, they were able to harmonize the care of the waters with the needs of a modern spa that also included moments of leisure and rest.
At the time when the Spa, then called Bagni di Montecatini, was born, the surrounding area was made up of hillside villages and a largely marshy and unhealthy plain because since 1370, the first date in which there is news of the thermal springs of Montecatini, the Medici, who had the lordship, had decided to make it a fishing lake.
The birth of Montecatini as a city is due to the enlightened and still young Pietro Leopoldo d’Asburgo-Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany. In fact, after having visited it in the desperate conditions in which the Medici of Florence had left it for centuries, he designed the original layout.
Thanks to Pietro Leopoldo, the area was subjected to reclamation works and, again at the behest of the Grand Duke, the first urban plan of the city was created.
Thanks to Pietro Leopoldo, the area was subjected to reclamation works and, again at the behest of the Grand Duke, the first urban plan of the city was created.
It is to the architect Niccolò Maria Gaspero Paoletti (Florence, 1727 – 1813) that we owe the projects that would lead to the canalization of the entire area and the construction of a factory for each spring.
In 1773 the Bagno Regio was born, in 1775 the Terme Leopoldine and in 1779 the Tettuccio was rebuilt where until that time there had been little more than a spring surrounded by walls and covered by a roof.
The original nucleus of the lower city, opposite the Castle (now Montecatini Alto) was composed as follows: to the south the church, whose construction was entrusted to the grand-ducal architect Luigi de Cambray Digny (Florence, 1778 – 1843), and the square as a crossroads with the road that connected Lucca to Pistoia; then the avenue that leads to the Terme Tettuccio, today Viale Verdi; along the left side of that avenue the Palazzina Regia and further on the Terme Leopoldine, both in the layout that can still be admired today.
The Cassinesi Monks of the Badia di Firenze, to whom the Grand Duke had donated the entire spa complex, took on the burden of building the large hotel complex of the Locanda Maggiore in front of the church and the square. It is the first large hotel in the city, built by order of Pietro Leopoldo I with the aim of hosting the first ‘foreigners’ who came to the Baths to drink the healthy thermal waters.
Over the course of a decade, starting in 1771, we will therefore witness the transformation of an unhealthy and abandoned area into an equipped spa area.
It is to the architect Giulio Bernardini (Pescia, 1863 –1946), with the collaboration of the architect and friend Ugo Giusti (Florence, 1880 - 1928), that we owe the urban planning of a real spa town according to the model of European spa towns, with tree-lined avenues and elegant homes.
Commissioned by Pietro Baragiola, a Lombard entrepreneur who saw in the waters of Montecatini an investment worth investing in, Giulio Bernardini visited and studied the spas of Switzerland, Bohemia and Germany with the aim of redesigning Montecatini on the model of villes d’eaux such as Karlsbad and Vichy.
In addition to the creation of a new Montecatini, conceived as an ideal city, the architect from Pescia is responsible for the renovation of the Locanda Maggiore and the design of the hotels Grand Hotel La Pace, Bristol, Scannavini, Eden and, in particular, the Torretta, Fortuna and Tamerici spas and the layout of the spa park, today, as a whole, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 1905, Montecatini dei Bagni separated from Montecatini Alto, becoming an independent municipality. At that time, the center was experiencing great excitement: the spa, a fashionable meeting place, attracted personalities from all over the world and the city was growing and enriched with elegant buildings.
Thus, in 1911, the City Council, certain of the "brilliant future" of the town, decided to build a new Town Hall appropriate to the size and role that the spa was assuming.
In 1912, the architect Raffaello Brizzi (Montecatini 1883 – Florence 1946) was commissioned with the project, and he was supported, as a collaborator and director of the works, by the municipal engineer Luigi Righetti. The works began in 1913, difficult years for Italy that was preparing to enter the First World War. It was precisely because of the delays accumulated during the years of the first conflict that the construction of the municipal complex could be completed six years later, in 1919.
Thus, in 1911, the City Council, certain of the "brilliant future" of the town, decided to build a new Town Hall appropriate to the size and role that the spa was assuming.
In 1912, the architect Raffaello Brizzi (Montecatini 1883 – Florence 1946) was commissioned with the project, and he was supported, as a collaborator and director of the works, by the municipal engineer Luigi Righetti. The works began in 1913, difficult years for Italy that was preparing to enter the First World War. It was precisely because of the delays accumulated during the years of the first conflict that the construction of the municipal complex could be completed six years later, in 1919.
The engineer Ugo Giovannozzi (Florence 1876 – Rome 1957) LINK TO CARD was responsible for perfecting the transformation of Montecatini into a water town. In 1916, he was commissioned by the State Property Agency and the Montecatini Spa Company to carry out the urban planning and architectural design of the area relating to the spa buildings and their annexes. By designing and building the Terme Regina, expanding and transforming the Leopoldine, Tettuccio, Torretta and Rinfresco spring pavilion and Excelsior establishments, creating accessory buildings, including the laundry, the public baths (Ex Bagni Gratuiti), the salt extraction plant (Istituto Termale Grocco) LINK TO CARD, and arranging avenues and parks, in just over a decade he completed one of his most important works, characterised by the classicism of the architectural proportions and the grandeur of the Tuscan travertine colonnades, availing himself of the collaboration of his brother Ezio and Giulio Bargellini for the internal mural frescoes, and of Antonio Maraini as sculptor.
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