Museo Villa Dei Cedri

The Villa dei Cedri museum is located in a villa dating back at least as far as the nineteenth century and has undergone a number of changes over time. This country home originally had a simple, late neoclassical look. Its current appearance is largely down to the extension work planned by the Milanese architect Nelusco Mario Antoniazzi on behalf of the banker Arrigo Stoffel, who bought the property in 1931.
The villa is in Ravecchia, a village on the slopes of the Dragonato and Guasta streams that lies to the south of Bellinzona and became part of the city in 1907. In the late nineteenth century, Ravecchia was considered ‘the most beautiful suburb of Bellinzona, with a wealth of plant life and villas, and an unparalleled view of the lower Ticino valley as far as Lake Maggiore’ (Swiss Geographical Dictionary, 1906). Agriculture, gardening and cattle rearing took place in this residential area and holiday destination, which also had vast orchards. It is therefore no surprise to learn that this pleasant zone was chosen as the site of a suburban villa. Residence was usually taken up in these homes from late spring until the autumn by noble families of Bellinzona like the Bonzanigo’s, who are the earliest owners of the villa that have been identified so far. It went on to change hands many times. From 1868 to 1905 it was owned by the Farinelli family. After them came the Resinelli family, who sold it to Enrico Guscio in 1926. In 1931 Arrigo Stoffel bought it from Banca Popolare.