Dove siamo

Viareggio is a city known for its beaches and its sea, during the summer, and the magnificent carnival in winter.

Born as a leisure pastime, the parade of Viareggio has imposed from the very first years as an event of political satire as well as costume. Also, as a resource in times of misery: the crisis of sailing had left many craftsmen without work who would have made up their own by inventing wagons.
But perhaps not everyone knows that Viareggio is characterized, from an architectural point of view, by an almost "oriental" aspect, thanks to a series of spires and guglietts, cupolette and turrets decorated mostly in Art Nouveau style that emerge here and there in the urban landscape. If you look at the villas, hotels and public places all decorated with ceramic tiles, it seems to be in Vienna or Paris.
This style so unusual for these areas has its roots in the late nineteenth century, when, attracted by the beauty of the place and to escape from the summer heat of the hinterland, the most affluent part of the population began to move in these areas and began to "color the landscape" With their own elegant clothes, the parasols of the ladies and the bohemian pantyhose of the gentlemen.
And so, towards the end of the 18th century, the first bathing establishments (obviously strictly separate for men and women), a casino, a theatre and various accommodation facilities were built. To create these centers of modern worldliness were the same local "masters" who, leaving their primary activity of carpentry boats, put themselves at the disposal of architects and designers giving rise to buildings and decorations in that style "Liberty wood" (a mixture of Japanese and baroque) that still beautifies and characterizes Viareggio.

On the night of 17 October 1917, a terrible fire destroyed almost the entire city.
The citizens of Viareggio immediately set to work, this time with stones and bricks, restoring what was possible and rebuilding what had been lost, while maintaining the style unchanged. The Salone Margherita, the Imperial, the Eden café-concert and many others were built during this period.