Villa Genoese Zerbi, sometimes simply called Villa Zerbi, is a historic building in Reggio Calabria standing on corso Vittorio Emanuele III, facing the Strait of Messina.
What to see
Already before 1860, the area held an earlier villa in Liberty style with Venetian neo-Gothic touches, belonging to the Marquises Genoese, an old patrician family of Reggio who at the end of the 19th century added the name Zerbi to their surname; destroyed by the earthquake of 1908, the villa was entirely rebuilt in 1915 to a design by the engineers Zerbi, Pertini and Marzats, with stylistic and typological choices completely different from the original building.
The new building, inspired by 14th-century Venetian neo-Gothic models, consists of a trapezoidal central block on two floors facing the sea, with pointed arches, loggias supported by columns, balconies with balustrades and a terrace crowned by battlements; the garden extends to the dependances at the opposite corners of the property. For years the villa was a major cultural hub for the city, hosting exhibitions of painting, sculpture, architecture and photography, including Venice Biennale shows devoted to Southern Italy; after a period of neglect, in 2023 the spaces were converted for a high-end pastry and ice-cream business.
Visiting
The villa is not a permanent museum: access to the interior depends on ongoing activities, while the exterior can be freely admired from the seafront.
Our editors' tip
Look at the battlements on the terrace against the sunset sky: it is one of the few spots on Reggio's seafront where early 20th-century architectural eclecticism still openly engages with the sea.
