In the northern area of Roseto, on the national road, we find the beautiful and charming Villa Paris built by the Paris family around the nineteenth century as a summer residence. The structure has a simple and elegant architecture of clear classical inspiration. In the mid-1930s, the villa became the property of the Pontifical State and the headquarters of the Vatican College “Russicum,” where Russian Catholic Orthodox priests were frequently hosted. During the Second World War, it became a superior category hotel and hosted numerous national events such as musical concerts by famous artists. In the 1960s, the property passed to the Pomante family who turned the villa back into a stable residence, but in the 1970s it returned to being a summer residence, thus starting a slow decline.
After 30 years of neglect, the villa was purchased by the Cingoli family who began a painstaking restoration work of the structural system, the architectural-decorative aspect, and the enhancement of the large park-garden. Today, the villa has become a high-profile tourist accommodation structure and the seat of the Cingoli Foundation which has transformed it into a container and vehicle of culture and promotion of young people and contemporary art.
Inside the villa, there is also the Russicum Chapel, built in 1936 when the summer residence of the Vatican Russicum College arrived in Roseto degli Abruzzi. Inside, the chapel has a rectangular plan with a central nave and two side ones. The walls are covered in marble and feature some icons of great artistic value, in the center of the nave is the iconostasis, a carved wooden work that separates the presbytery from the nave.
The small church has been dedicated to St. John the Evangelist and frescoed in Neo-Byzantine style with images depicting the life of the saint and with the iconostasis painted by Gregorius Maltzeff, an artist of Russian origin.
Villa Paris is a precious example of how an ancient structure can be restored, preserved, and renewed in a modern way, maintaining its ancient charm.
