A villa and a luxury pensioner

Born as Villa Bezancourt, built to a design by the architect Poulan from Nice, it was renamed Villa Santa Croce when it became the seat of the Pensionato Femminile managed by the Order of the Sisters of Saint Ursula (Ste-Ursule de Ste-Cyr or even Santa Croce).

The building was located at the crossroads between corso degli Inglesi and that part of corso di Ponente, which, once the corso Matuzia was built, took the name of via Legnano (a name it still retains) at the height of the bridge that crossed the river Foce.

The imposing structure was characterized by the battlements that surrounded the upper part of the building, towards the roof. It was surrounded by a rich vegetation composed of palm trees and various species of Mediterranean flora.

An elegant entrance portal towards the road gave access to a large garden for strolling and entertainment for the guests of the Pensionato, which reached the edge of the Torrente Foce.
On the same road, before the portal there was the Chapel of San Rocco, right on the edge of the stream.

Villa Santa Croce, due to its original characteristics, was one of the favourite subjects of photographers and postcard publishers.

 Unfortunately the building, bombed during the war, was finally demolished in the 50s. A condominium complex called Santa Croce was built in its place.

(text elaborated from different sources; images from private archives)