Art Nouveau

Montecatini Terme is a museum of Liberty architecture and design, a testament to the elegant and luxurious neoclassical taste of the early 20th century.

 

Our journey begins by admiring the facade of the Kursaal casino-theater, which became a symbol of the Belle Epoque and the high society life in Montecatini right after being built in 1904.

 

Moving from Corso Roma to Viale Verdi, passing by the majestic Gambrinus gallery, we reach the Town Hall building. Built between the 1910s and 1920s, the palace houses frescoes and stained glass windows by Galileo Chini, one of the most important and prolific artists of Italian Art Nouveau, whose works we will find several times along this tour.

 

Continuing on Viale Verdi, we immediately find the Padiglioncino dei Sali, an ornate building built in 1903 for the sale of salts from the Tamerici Thermae. On the side, a fresco painted by Chini for the promotion of these salts is still clearly visible.

 

Crossing the street, at the corner with Viale Manzoni, we come across the former Excelsior cinema, built in 1922 by Ugo Giovannozzi, a building that perhaps represents the most faithful testimony to the dictates of European Liberty with its protruding iron and glass roof and the interesting choice of the curved porticoed façade.

 

Walking along the park, we reach the Tamerici Thermae, an eclectic agglomeration of architectural and decorative styles that houses splendid stained glass windows and ornate counters by Galileo Chini.

 

We conclude our stroll at the Tettuccio Complex, the building that combines the pictorial, sculptural and architectural arts of the 1920s most majestically.

The building, originally built around 1780, was completely transformed between 1923 and 1927 following the project of architect Ugo Giovannozzi, with decorative interventions by multiple prominent artists of the time, including Basilio Cascella, another important representative of Italian Liberty style.