THE CASINO' OF LEVANTO
FAMILY PHOTO 1923 WITH THE SITE OF THE CASINO’ ON THE LEFT
THE STORY OF THE CASINO’ OF LEVANTO IS AN INTERESTING GLIMPSE AT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ITALIAN RIVIERA
IN THE EARLY DECADES OF TOURISM THE RAILWAY ALONG THE ITALIAN COAST STOPPED AT SESTRI LEVANTE NEAR GENOVA
THE ‘CINQUE TERRE COAST’ BETWEEN SESTRI AND LA SPEZIA REMAINED CUT OFF BY STEEP CLIFFS. IN 1874 A SINGLE TRACK RAILWAY WAS CARVED THROUGH 51 TUNNELS AND 23 VIADUCTS THUS CONNECTING LIGURIA WITH TUSCANY. THE VILLAGES OF LEVANTO AND THE CINQUE TERRE WERE NOW EASILY ACCESSIBLE BY LAND
LEVANTO IN 1889 SHOWING THE RAILWAY FOLLOWING THE BEACH
A RAILWAY ENTREPRENEUR AND POLITICIAN GAETANO SEMENZA WAS TRAVELLING ON THE NEW LINE BUT STOPPED IN LEVANTO BECAUSE OF ENGINE TROUBLE. HE WAS CHARMED BY THE MEDIEVAL TOWN WITH THE ONLY LONG BEACH IN THE AREA. HE DECIDED TO START A BATHING ESTABLISHMENT AND ARRANGED FOR ‘DIRECT’ TRAINS TO STOP THERE
THE ESTABLISHMENT OR ‘BAGNI’ WAS A HIT. THE VILLAGE WAS CHARMING, THE BEACH FACED SOUTH, THE LANDSCAPE WAS PICTURESQUE AND THE WATER WAS CLEAN
AN EARLY VISITOR IN 1887 WAS 21 YEAR OLD GIOVANNI AGNELLI. THERE HE MET CLARA, THE DAUGHTER OF AN ADMIRAL WHO HAD RECENTLY BUILT A VILLA ON THE CLIFFS BELOW THE CASTLE. AGNELLI CAME BACK THE FOLLOWING SUMMER, FELL PROPERLY IN LOVE, PROPOSED AND MARRIED CLARA LATER THAT YEAR
THE COUPLE HAD TWO CHILDREN AND AGNELLI BOUGHT THE LAND NEXT DOOR TO HIS IN-LAWS. HE BUILT A VILLA EVEN GRANDER THAN THEIRS WITH 6 HECTARES OF TERRACED GARDENS OVERLOOKING THE BAY TOWARDS THE SETTING SUN. HE USED THE SAME DESIGNER AS FOR HIS REVOLUTIONARY LINGOTTO CAR PLANT: ENGINEER GIACOMO MATTE’ TRUCCO
THE AGNELLI’S DAUGHTER MARRIED THE ENGINEER AND OLYMPIC YACHTSMAN CARLO NASI. THEY MADE LEVANTO THEIR SUMMER HOME
THE SLOOP ‘EMILIA’ IN THE FOREGROUND WAS DESIGNED AS A PRESENT FROM AGNELLI TO HIS SON IN LAW
IN THE 1920S CARLO DEVELOPED PLANS TO REPLACE THE EDWARDIAN WOODEN CASINO’. WITH THE YOUNG ARCHITECT ALDO MORBELLI HE CREATED A MODERN BUILDING WITH SLEEK LINES AND EXPANSIVE VIEWS REMINISCENT OF A SHIP
THE NEW CASINO’ DIDN’T HAVE GAMBLING BUT IT WAS THE FOCUS OF THE SUMMER SOCIAL LIFE. THE LARGE SALT-WATER POOL WAS USED FOR SPORTS IN THE DAY AND WAS AN ELEGANT REFLECTING POOL FOR THE NIGHTLIFE IN THE EVENING
THE HEYDAY OF THE CASINO’ WAS IN THE 1960S AT THE HEIGHT OF ITALY’S ECONOMIC BOOM
THE SINGER-SONGWRITER GINO PAOLI HAD REACHED A PEAK IN HIS CAREER, HAVING WRITTEN ‘IL CIELO IN UNA STANZA’, ‘SENZA FINE’ AND ‘SAPORE DI SALE’. HE TOOK A BREAK TO RUN THE CASINO’. HE BROUGHT THE GREATEST ITALIAN SINGERS TO PERFORM THERE, INCLUDING MINA AND ORNELLA VANONI
I REMEMBER A NIGHT IN AUGUST THAT MINA PERFORMED AT THE CASINO’. SO MANY PEOPLE WANTED TO SEE HER THAT THEY PUT LITTLE BOATS IN THE SWIMMING POOL TO ACT AS EXTRA ‘TABLES’ FOR THE AUDIENCE. I LENT MY TINY SUN-FISH SAILBOAT (WITH THE SAIL DOWN) TO BE USED. BEING VERY YOUNG I HAD NOT REALLY HEARD OF MINA BEFORE THEN
THE EFFECT OF MINA SINGING IN THE OPEN AIR ON AN AUGUST EVENING WITH ALL THE DOORS OF THE CASINO’ OPEN AND LITTLE CANDLE-LIT BOATS ON THE POOL WAS UNFORGETTABLE: MAGIC IN THE SEA-air
