Villa Spinola Franchini Cometti

The scene composed of the elegant baroque building and the park surrounding it, attributed to the Spinola family, provides a refined backdrop to the municipal square. The villa, commissioned by the noble Portalupi family, later passed to the Spinola marquises, then to the Franchini, and finally to the Cometti. Internally, it preserves remains of Romanesque construction, while some original structures date back to the 16th century and are recognizable both internally and externally. As evidence of this, in one of the two vaulted rooms covered with cross vaulting, a fresco from the 16th century was discovered in the 1950s.

The main body consists of a large building developed over three floors and an attic for service. On the inner facade of the courtyard, the entrance to the villa is through a single opening, above which protrudes an elegant balcony with a stone balustrade supported by modillions, accessible through two flanking doors. On the sides, other windows open symmetrically with the central axis, while on the left side, small vertical openings follow each other with a different rhythm. Both on the inner facade and the outer one, the openings have ornate lintels and jambs with bossage; a gentle bossage instead highlights the ground floor.

The volume of the main body is balanced by the presence of slightly protruding wings on both sides, which house terraces enclosed by stone balustrades; these are located on the first floor and are characterized, on the ground floor, by two large entrances flanked by Corinthian columns. The facade facing the municipal square appears more rustic with paired openings on the central axis and a non-protruding balustraded balcony on the noble floor; it concludes at the top with a pediment adorned with a lunette. On the facade, the stone elements that form the masonry texture recall 16th-century preexistences.

The buildings that compose and characterize the entire complex of the villa refer to different eras, such as the two small buildings located in front of the inner facade of the main house, in Moorish style with turrets that originally housed the stables later transformed into a warehouse.

Currently, the interesting architectural development of the stables preserves the large rooms and the four lateral turrets characterized by openings of Byzantine profile and by a triforium at the top. The two stables are connected by an elevated passage with an underlying three-part portico. An eastern-style battlement crowns the two small buildings. Two tower buildings, embellished with merlons and leaning against the wall of the garden almost as if to be part of it, flank a monumental staircase with two flights that runs along the main axis and provides access to the upper park, creating an enchanting scenic effect typical of baroque garden architecture.
The large courtyard-garden in front of the villa is designed according to well-defined geometric shapes through parterres bordered by boxwood hedges, flowerbeds with pruned plants, and sculptural elements such as fountains, columns, and vases. The park, located on the upper part of the hill, which dominates the entire valley, is of considerable landscape interest.