Piazza Valle Stretta, 1, 10052 Bardonecchia
The construction of a large Kursaal or festival palace was planned since the early urban projects of Bardonecchia in the early 1900s: they sought a strategic location to emphasize its central role as a place of entertainment.
Originally, the project of the Grand Hotel La Rho was presented: on the ground floor, ballrooms, music rooms, game rooms, billiard rooms, study rooms, dining rooms, as well as a theater with a gallery composed of a cinema; on the first floor, 42 bedrooms, of which 28 were double. The elevation drawings show another two floors probably also destined for sleeping areas, in which case the total number of rooms would have been 126... In the park, there were tennis courts and a small chapel in memory of that of S. Spirito, devastated by the flood of 1863. Due to its magnificence in proportions, decorations, and size, it makes us understand the grandeur of the aspirations of those years, expressing the will to create a center of notable socio-economic interest.
The final realization of the Kursaal (designed by Carlo Angelo Ceresa) is significantly downsized compared to the Grand Hotel la Rho: the main volumes are essentially those of the current building, except for recent internal renovation works.
Excerpt from Franca Ceresa
Bibliography:
Alps to discover
Art, Landscape, Architecture for planning the future
Edited by: De Rossi, Giuseppe Sergi, Andrea Zonato
Graffio Editions
