Villa Malaspina of Caniparola is located at the foot of the hills of the village of Fosdinovo, in Tuscany. The first nucleus is a medieval square tower, almost certainly a military settlement, today incorporated in the Northeast corner of the villa. This tower you have news in a document of the Pelavicino code of 1231, which designates it as “castrum quod dicitur Mons Johanes”, corresponding to the toponym “Montesagna” of the hill adjacent to the construction. In 1724 Gabriele III Malaspina builtì in this site his summer residence (the so-called Villa Malaspina) and gave it the shape which still possesses today, completing the project of his predecessor Carlo Francesco Augustine Malaspina, that there morì inside in 1722. After the fall of Napoleon and the loss of the feudal property on the part of the Malaspina, the villa passò to the nephew of Carlo Emanuele (the last Marquis of Fosdinovo), Giuseppe Malaspina, then to Alfonso Malaspina, to finally arrive to his nephew Alessandro Torrigiani Malaspina. Currently, is the private residence of the family of Zuccarino of Carrara.
develops on three floors. Has a base with a plea to the shoe, similar to a fortification. Originally the main facade controlled the bridge on the river Isolone. The piano nobile is reached with a two-flight stair that leads to the vast hall frescoed by Antonio questionable of Piacenza, particularly active also in Pontremoli, così as the other hall frescoed in 1728 by the Pontremolese Giovan Battista Natali. It’s surrounded by an extensive park and an elegant Italian garden. Inside also hosts a grand hall to double volume and a beautiful library overlooking the garden. Has splendid frescoes on vaults and walls. The Garden, by the Marquis of Gabriele III Malaspina, è composed of flower beds bordered by box hedges, the central Peschiera and secret garden. From the opposite part of the garden there is a large walled garden closed by an imposing gate in wrought iron.
Theater Malaspina
In front of the entrance of the castle at the beginning of Via Papiriana, in a building dating back to the XIII – XIV century, a plaque on the architrave of the door bears witness to the existence of an ancient theater, restored and enlarged in 1770 by Carlo Emanuele Malaspina, with palchetti in inlaid wood. In subsequent years the theater remained active in two annual seasons, at Carnival and during the summer. With the arrival of Napoleon in 1797 and the abolition of the feuds, theater ended its activity and was transformed into a civil habitation.