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Island of Elba Villa Napoleon San Martino
During his exile on Elba Island, Napoleon
Bonaparte was fascinated by San Martino countryside,
outback, 5 km away from Portoferraio harbour and decided to buy
and renovate it according to his style, making it his summer
residence.
Built on two floors, it is still decorated with paintings ordered
by Napoleon to the artist Pietro Ravelli and
there are still pieces of furniture belonging to the emperor. The
Napoleonic Residences National Museum consists
of both Villa San Martino and Mulini Villa, and the two of them
together boast to be the second most visited museum in Tuscany,
just behind Uffizi in Florence.
Napoleon was charmed by this beautiful landscape, surrounded by
woods, vineyards and drinking water, and decided to buy a house
where he could retire, reflect and relax. Actually the house was
bought by the Manganaro family with
Paolina (Napoleon’s sister)’s money. At that
time in San Martino there were only this house, in unstable
conditions and inhabited by the farmer, and a very big storage
room to keep the wine. Napoleon ordered to transform the storage
room into a house, according to a style which was inspired by
what was used in Paris at that time, as regards to comfort and
building.
The house consisted of two different floors but actually they
both were on the ground floor. The lower floor was meant to host
the restroom and you could get there through the terrace wanted
by Napoleon in front of the house, where there was also a small
nice garden. Taking the staircase outside you could go upstairs,
where there were the French dignitaries’ rooms on one side and
the emperor’s small apartment, with the library, on the other
side.
In the middle there were two receiving halls: the huge dining
room, called “Sala Egizia” (Egyptian Hall)
and Sala del Consiglio (Council Hall), also
called “Doves hall” or “Love Knot Hall”. In honour of the French
invasion of Egypt, Napoleon asked the artist Rovelli to create
ambient images and decorations on the walls and an allusive big
zodiac on the ceiling. In the second hall, he ordered to paint
two doves holding the ends of a ribbon and, flying far from each
other, they tighten the ribbon. It was all meant to be a sign of
love to his wife Marie Louise.
When he lived in Villa San Martino, napoleon loved to walk
outside in the nature, in the woods and in the countryside. Near
to the Villa there was a boulevard which led to a small river
where he used to sit by a marble seat, studying many hours per
day or receiving some people.
After the one hundred days, when Napoleon went back to his
throne, the Villa was abandoned for many years, was sold and
bought many times until the Russian prince Anatoli
Demidov, Napoleon’s niece Matilde Bonaparte’s husband,
became the new owner in 1851.
Demidov was a relevant person in Florence cultural environment,
and helped by the architect Niccolò Matas, who designed Chiesa di
Santa Croce façade in Florence, managed to renovate the Villa and
ordered a neoclassical building to be used as a memorial monument
and museum. This is how Galleria Demidoff was
born: it was built at the foot of the embankment that supports
the Villa, and decorated by granitic columns in pairs.
The memorial museum was opened in 1859 and houses not only the
Emperor and his family’s “relics” but also statues, paintings,
printed reproductions, works of art made by Canova, Chaudet,
Gérard, Vernet,Bellangé, Morelli, Grenier among others. After
Demidov’s death, under his nephew Paul most of the collection
went lost. Today it is possible to admire the entrance of the
Villa, the Galatea by Antonio Canova, who was supposed to take
inspiration from the beautiful Pauline Bonaparte, and
reproductions from the Napoleonic years coming from different
private collections. In 1930 Italy became the Villa owner, after
Pullè family and Count Bernardo Barbiellini Amidei (part of it).
The entrance boulevard was enlarged and the area in front of the
Villa was decorated with flowerbeds, according to the Italian
taste and style.
Information about the Museum and Opening Hours
| Opening Hours (summertime) |
Open until the last Saturday in October Week days: 8:30-19:30 (last entrance at 19:00) Week end and Red Days: 8:30-13:30 (last entrance at 13:00) Closed on Monday
|
| Prices |
€ 3,00 full price - € 1,50 discount Free entrance for those who are under 18 and over 65, if coming from within European Union or from countries Italy has agreements with Young between 18- 25 and state school teachers: € 1,50 All-inclusive ticket*: € 5,00 full price - € 2,50 Young between 18- 25 and state school teachers *it includes both Palazzina dei Mulini and Villa San Martino and it is 3 days valid
Max. 30 people at a time Educational services: scheduled or by appointment |
| Location and How to get there |
San Martino. Portoferraio From Portoferraio head the country road towards Marina di Campo, about 5 km after, head the detour to San Martino, Napoleonic Villa in San Martino and keep driving until you reach the huge parking area. |
Napoleon’s windmill villa
Windmill villa was built in 1724 and refurbished by Napoleon in 1814, and it’s located in Portoferraio town.
Napoleon and the Vigilanti Theater
The Elba Island's Theatre wanted by Napoleon was inaugurated on January 24 in 1815.
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