Room of Dreams

In life there is no place sadder than an empty bed. (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

Video

Location

The villa is located in the Emilian countryside, halfway between Ferrara and Bologna.

History & Description

The villa probably dates back to the nineteenth century, at that time divided into a manor and one for the servants. The owners were part of a farmhouse and, judging by the various letters found on the first floor mentioning “Philosophiæ Doctor“, they possessed a certain social status.

The house underwent several restorations in the coming decades and the frescoes (except for the one in the corridor on the first floor) were covered with coloured wallpaper. Now the roof has collapsed and the attic on the first floor is very unstable. All around the countryside, other buildings and sheds were abandoned and, not many months earlier, a Fiat 500 Topolino could be found in the barn.


Another gem in the abandonment comes from a splendid and rather particular domed room on the first floor. A curtain of opaque white, now faded over time, is slightly pushed by the wind and dragged until it touches a wrought iron bed on which it lies. Next to it is a trunk with several clothes and blankets inside.

From the top of the skies, above our heads, cherubs flutter and snicker, making fun of us visitors. They throw us leftovers of food and the apple torso falls on our shoes covered with mud and dust. We look at the ceiling but what we see is just a chasm and then darkness…
The latest news dates back to the nineties, years in which the abandonment of the villa probably followed.

On the map:

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