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It is possible to see from photos dating back to the early 20th Century, from Città della Pieve Town Council’s Archives, that Castelluccio Palusse has preserved its neo-gothic style, maintaining the same architectural elements that decorate the façade and windows.
The front of the building, which has three entrances as it did originally, has many beautiful features: all the windows on the same level have decorations in terracotta above them which recall the double lancet windows on the towers, at the same time there are string course cornices and some family crests of noble families linked to the Spinola family, also in terracotta.
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"Castelluccio Palusse” is written in the main entrance where there is an acute curved arch with two cornices with floral designs made in plaster and columns with a Corinthian capital. On the recently restored door knobs of the main door you can see the name of “Pilade Mazza”, who owned the estate after the Spinola family. From the main door, which has a large triple lancet window above it, you reach the magnificent entrance hall, which is now used as the foyer. Here there is a beautiful staircase in terracotta painted in ivory enamel, which leads to the second floor. While from the entrance door on the right hand side you go into the lounge area, renamed the Zodiac Room because of the artwork by noted local artist master Mario Marco Marroni commissioned by previous owners, the Fastelli family. All the works of art and the evocative fresco in the lounge area, where you can admire a trompe l’oeil painting of a view of Città della Pieve, are attributed to Marroni. From the entrance door on the left hand side, you enter rooms leading to the dining hall, whose cleverly restored walls and ceiling have adornments in wood effect. In the four corners of the dining hall there are also some basins resembling holy water stoups which bear the name Palusse and were probably used to serve wine. All of the doors and window frames are original and there are some stained-glass windows. |
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Today on the upper floors there are eight bedrooms of various sizes in what was the original accommodation, four on each floor, with vaulted ceilings painted by the expert hand of the great maestro Marroni.
In the posterior tower which is larger and lower a single suite was made on two floors, the second and the third, with access to the terrace via a spiral staircase.
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In the grounds of the Castelluccio there is a large park encompassing almost 6,000 square metres, which is accessed through a majestic cast iron gate with an elaborate design of three Gothic tabernacle frames with the esoteric symbols for good and evil set horizontally. In the park there are lime trees, horse chestnut trees, Italian stone pines, Lebanon cedars and other flowers and plants that are the legacy of Vittoria Guerrieri. A short distance away from the façade there is a giant oak tree about 500 years old with a trunk measuring almost 1.5 metres in diameter.
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During the time when the Spinola family owned the estate, the park’s main attraction was its many iron gazebos, which served various functions. Some of those situated along the main pathway were used as cages for different species of exotic animals; while others, like the one still found to the right of the façade, were used for having breakfast in the summer.
The enormous geodesic-dome greenhouse, which is 15 metres in diameter, is particularly striking. Immersed in the park, in the past the greenhouse served as an aviary for exotic birds and baboons.
At the back of the Castelluccio there is also a single-storey building with a rectangular layout, which was previously used as tool shed and then as a lemon grove.
Now the hotel has opted to use this space as a small health spa to ensure the relaxation and well-being of guests.
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