Livorno, restoration of the Coral Baths kicks off. They will be home to the Uffizi of the Sea

The construction site for the restoration and re-functionalization works of the mescita pavilion and central garden of the Coral Baths in Livorno has been officially started. The executive project for the first functional lot had been approved in April 2021; the work was awarded in February 2022, was delivered on June 27, and is scheduled to be completed within a year.

Within the framework of the Periphery Call for Proposals under DPCM 25 2016, a first functional lot of intervention was applied for and financed, for a total amount of 2,200,000 euros. The idea was to start with this first restoration project to continue gradually thereafter, given the vastness of the complex, in the recovery of both structures and open spaces.

Thus, the restoration and re-functionalization of the Sala della Mescita is planned, which will become a multipurpose hall for conferences and temporary exhibitions. The adjacent apartment, on the other hand, will house the services connected to the latter, while the apartment above will remain custodial quarters to guard the facilities. In addition, work will be done on one of the two colonnades, the one on the same side as the Sala della Mescita, which is currently partly plugged, to connect the public park, which is already accessible, to the historic garden, which is also the subject of the current project. The rehabilitation will also involve a conservative type of structural consolidation of the columns.

The work will also include the historic garden to allow full accessibility of the open spaces of the complex. Because of its conformation and its adjacency to the multipurpose hall, the garden will be able to host cultural events similar to those in the Mescita Hall. The two ticket booths on either side of the main entrance will also become support rooms for events to be held in the garden, for example as storage or eventual ticketing.

The Coral Baths complex is located on Via degli Acquedotti near the Railway Station, owned, after various successions, by the City of Livorno. It was inaugurated in 1905 and built according to the design of engineer Angiolo Badaloni, thanks to the discovery in 1856 of five springs of health-giving waters, recognized by studies and chemical analyses to have properties similar to those of the Montecatini Baths. The Spa Establishment is an elegant example of Art Nouveau architecture: it is accessed through a wide wrought-iron gate on either side of which we find two square-plan aedicules topped by reinforced concrete spires, once used as ticket offices. The complex consists of a central building and two mirrored side pavilions joined together by a covered portico, consisting of tall columns with capitals, which opens onto the garden, enriched by a fountain with terracotta putti. The central building was used for concerts and congresses, equipped with a large hall embellished with a large stained-glass skylight. The left pavilion was used for medical offices with halls, the chemical-pharmacological laboratory and the consulting professors’ cabinets. The right pavilion had the conversation room and the Sala della Mescita, a semicircular room distinguished at the corners by paired columns and enriched in the lower part of the wall by ceramics and majolica from the Florentine firm Maioliche Cantagalli, from which the water of the five springs flowed.

The entire complex is rich in architectural details of remarkable quality such as wooden fixtures, friezes with naturalistic elements, glazed majolica designed by Florentine painter Ernesto Bellandi and made by Maioliche Cantagalli, and plastic cement decorations made by Gaetano Sammoggia.

“It is with great pleasure that I greet the start of the restoration and re-functionalization works of the Mescita Pavilion and the Central Garden of the former Coral Baths,” commented Tuscany Region President Eugenio Giani. “This beautiful complex, which also contemplated a Grand Hotel, was called Acque della Salute. It was an Art Nouveau complex and its presence contributed greatly to Livorno being called, in the first half of the last century, the Montecatini a mare of Tuscany. The Acque della Salute represents some of the most significant architecture in the city. It is a work that is influenced by the cultural and artistic influences of the early 20th century.”

“The beginning of the restoration of the mescite pavilion and the central garden of the Coral Baths is a great satisfaction,” commented Mayor Luca Salvetti. “Today’s day is a decisive step in a larger urban redevelopment project that involves this part of the city up to the Cisternone and will lead, together with the Region and the Uffizi, to the birth of the Uffizi al Mare. This Art Nouveau structure, which will be further enhanced by the demolition of the railway overpass, will become the hub of Livorno’s cultural activity, a crossroads for tourists and a gateway to the city that is finally worthy and structured.”

“Thanks to the work of so many volunteers, a new phase begins, a crucial phase in the development of this project. The people of Livorno have had it in their hearts and minds to recover this extraordinary architectural and landscape asset for years, and as we have seen in our inspections it is truly a perfect venue for the project now officially christened as the Uffizi of the Sea,” concluded Uffizi Galleries Director Eike Schmidt. “There are very close relations between Florence and Livorno, since the time of the Medici. So this project is fundamental to the Uffizi Diffusi, it’s historically justified, it’s a natural thing, which I’m looking forward to seeing happen. We all have to work to make it possible. In this architectural context we will have the ideal place to exhibit a part of the Uffizi works especially from the Art Nouveau period.”

Livorno City Council aldermen Viviani, Cepparello and Lenzi specified that the restoration of the Coral Baths is part of an overall project to re-evaluate the part of the city between the baths and the Cisternone. The work will be directed by architect Melania Lessi of the City of Livorno.

Livorno, restoration of the Coral Baths kicks off. They will be home to the Uffizi of the Sea

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