Hello Monaco #13 Winter 2021–2022 | Page 130

MONACO NEIGHBOURHOOD
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The monument to Margaret of Savoy , Queen of Italy Памятник королеве Италии Маргарите Савойской
Bordighera is a town full of flowers and colours . В Бордигере много цветов и экзотических растений .
father died , to finance personally and with the help of his mother , the end of the works .
• Villa Bischoffsheim built between 1876 – 1879 / 80 ; now Villa Etelinda
The villa was built in Bordighera on the Via Romana by Raphaël Bischoffsheim , a banker of German origin who lived in Paris and who had met the architect Charles Garnier likely at concerts at the Paris Opera , In 1873 Bischoffsheim commissioned Garnier to build him a villa in Bordighera . Bischoffsheim stayed there for some time and received numerous prestigious guests including the future Queen Margaret of Savoy with her mother Elisabeth of Saxony Duchess of Genoa and also notably Louis Pasteur .
The Villa was bought by Lord Claude Bowes- Lyon , 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne , who changed its name to Villa Etelinda to honour the success obtained by his sister Mildred Marion Bowes-Lyon with her opera “ Etelinda ”.
As of 1910 , the Earl ’ s daughter , the future Queen Mother of England Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon will come regularly each winter in Bordighera , with her family . Later she returned with her daughter , the future Elizabeth II , to spend the colder months in the area — something that knowledgeable Europeans continue to do to this day and you can too ; it is within easy visiting range also of Monte-Carlo . In 1914 the villa and the huge garden were sold to Queen Margaret of Savoy .
Ludwig Winter

Where there are renowned architects building Villas fit for Royalty there also go great Botanists and Gardeners ( Architectural gardeners ). Not that Bordighera ’ s incredible microclimate needed regal villas to attract them .

One such famous botanist was Ludwig Winter , a German nurseryman and landscape designer . Creator of gardens such as the Hanbury Gardens , he was admired for introducing tall palms and other foreign species to the Ligurian riviera and particularly for his masterpiece gardens in Bordighera including :
• Villa Bischoffsheim later called Villa Etelinda ,
• Winter Gardens
On 17 May 2015 , after being long abandoned , the Winter Gardens were reopened to the public .
His additional personal botanical gardens are now part of a private property located close to the Pallanca exotic gardens ( via Madonna of the Ruota 28 ). From the road you can still see the famous pergola which is portrayed in various photos and postcards — images that contributed to the spread of Bordighera ’ s exotic fame throughout Europe — for Ludwig Winter it was his house , his dream garden , the nursery of his most beautiful palms .
They included the famous twelve palms of Madonna della Ruota , celebrated by Scheffel in his poem of 1856 , entitled “ Near Death ” and also painted by Hermann Nestel and Friederich von Kleudgen .
Winter also designed the gardens of Villa Garnier and of Villa Margherita .
Garden enthusiasts should plan a trip around Bordighera , and also visit the Pallanca Gardens there which is the botanical garden with the largest variety of succulents in Ita ly — then enhance their trip with a visit to Monaco ’ s Japanese garden and Jardin Exotique and as a bonus take in the fabulous Villa and gardens of Ephrussy de Rothschild in Cap Ferrat built by Baroness Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild .
Claude Monet

Famously painting the Corniche de Monaco , Monet could also not resist the Siren Call of Bordighera . Monet and Auguste Renoir in 1883 were searching Bordighera for new , paintable landscapes . Monet returned alone the following year , and painted more than forty views of the area , the town and its gardens . His energy was ferocious ; at first , it is reported , he worked on four canvases each day , and between 24 January and 2 February 1884 he reportedly completed fourteen . The shimmering golden pinks and blues seemed almost incredible .

Monet also searches for the southern light , the harsh whites and bright light blues
128 / Hello Monaco Winter 2021 – 2022 www . hellomonaco . com