Villa Fortificata La Cucullera

History
The fortified villa of “Cucullera” rises up in the district of Alli, only six kilometres from the splendid beaches of the Ionian Sea, wrapped in the embrace of a luxuriant citrus orchard. When, at the end of the eighteenth century, the Barons of Marincola purchased the lands bathed by the Alli river stretching from the foothills of the Sila as far as the Ionian coastline, the already-existing oil mill of Cucullera was completely restructured as the Baroness BiancaMaria Costanza wanted to make her summer residence there. Before long the top floor of the villa was erected, the sides of which were girded by two splendid turreted towers that are still standing. Illustrious gardeners at the service of the Viceroy of Spain were summoned from Naples to transform the areas in front of the mill into a splendid garden overflowing with precious plants that can still be admired today. The works lasted seven years and in the end the Baroness was so enchanted by the beauty of the villa and the mild climate that she decided to make it her refuge and moved there permanently.

The following century was a period of intense revolutions for the villa of “Cucullera”, the site of conspiracies and clandestine encounters. When the Baroness BiancaMaria Costanza died at a ripe old age her heirs left the villa and went back to live in stile in the city of Reggio. It was her youngest grandson, Tommaso, who rediscovered the villa many years later. But this time it was not restored to its ancient aristocratic opulence and instead Tommaso turned it into the clandestine meeting place for his Charbonnerie brothers who shared his loathing of the Spaniards and the ideals of freedom and national unity that animated the Italian Risorgimento at that time. The secret cellar and the maps discovered by workers during recent restructuring operations bear witness to the intense conspiracy activities that took place in the “Cucullera” between 1848 and 1861.

After the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy and the death of Tommaso five years afterwards, the villa fell into complete abandon and returned to its ancient function as an olive mill. The doors of the halls and rooms closed on the devious smiles of the young ladies, and the smell of tobacco smoke that wafted amidst the excited voices of the noble conspirators. Then at the beginning of the twentieth century several farming families who worked the surrounding fertile lands moved to the “Cucullera” and vitality was once again restored to the antique villa: the courtyard was animated by the sound of children playing, the communal oven in the large kitchen mil that Bianca Maria Costanza had created in her era began to work again, and on summer evenings a voice would sing romantic love songs under the secular palm trees.

Today the fortified villa of “Cucullera”, purchased by the Scalamadrè-Cartigliani family from the Baron of Marincola in 1960, is the property of Silvana and her son Gennaro Scalamandrè, farming entrepreneurs with longstanding traditions. The villa has been completely renovated and wedding receptions and other events can now be held in the new apartments, the hall, and the ancient garden.