Palazzina Regia

The Palazzina Regia is a symbolic building for the identity of Montecatini Terme.

 

Together with the architect Niccolò Gasparo Paoletti, already director of the grand-ducal factories, Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo conceived, designed and then realized what would become one of the most important thermal cities in Europe. The quality of the healing water and the presence of numerous springs convinced Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo to invest significant economic resources to create a city around the thermal buildings. The Palazzina was built at the beginning of the large Bagni street, now Viale Verdi, designed by Francesco Bonvicci. The elegant building was designed by Paoletti in 1777 and completed in 1782 for the summer stay of the grand-ducal family. Gioacchino Rossini stayed there in July 1853. The facade is characterized by the presence of travertine used in various elements and a balcony on the first floor. Between 1919 and 1920, the construction was adapted by Ugo Giovannozzi to the administrative needs of the thermal company, with interventions inside also of a decorative nature with mural paintings executed by Ezio Giovannozzi. In fact, the current image of the building is more similar to an architecture of the Liberty period than to that of the previous centuries.

 

The same interiors, furnishings and decorations bring us back to the taste of the Belle Epoque and make the Palazzina a place that represents the tourist-cultural vocation of Montecatini Terme from its foundation to today. In the entrance hall, a mural painting recalls the foundation of the Montecatini Baths. The Bagni street, the Tettuccio Complex and the Loggiato delle Terme Leopoldine can be seen. Then a whole series of decorations and mural paintings referring to water. Both in furnishings and mural paintings, the ancient symbol of the thermal baths with letters RTM framed in medallions and diamonds is a recurring decorative element, which we also find in the splendid inlaid wooden ceiling.