The building on Piazza di Corte,
the Casino Stazi, in 1817 belonged to Antonio Martorelli,
who transformed it in an inn. This public house hosted important
painters and writers, which during the 19th century passed through
Ariccia during their travel, as Ariccia was one of the favourite
places of the Grand Tour d'Italie. A simple inn became:<in
un vero centro della pittura europea fiorente all’avvento
del romanticismo...> according to the Adolfo Mancini's
description.
Among the prominent persons of that period, which have been
hosted in the inn, there were (according to the memorial stone
on its front): J. M. William Turner (English), Antonio Richter
(German), G. Fedrico Overbeck (German), Nino Costa (Italian),
Antonio Ligeti (Hungarian), G. Christian Andersen (Danish),
Taddeo Kuntze (Polish), H. Jorgen Hammer (Danish), Massimo D'azeglio
(Italian), Orazio Vernet (French), Henrik Ibsen (Norwegian),
Henry Longfellow (American).
The interior's frescos represent Aeneid's scenes related to
the Ariccia foundation myth and they were painted by the German
artist Taddeo Kuntze.
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