Luigi Mazzilli, Villa Fantasy

all images are screenprints from the video
in the documentation

The Italian municipality of Corato. with about 48,000 inhabitants, is located in the south-eastern part of the country, and, like the nearby city of Bari, it has the Mediterranean Sea within easy reach.

The eastern part of Corato borders the National Park Alta Murgia.

Outside the built-up area of ​​Corato there is an art environment. The exact location is not made public to prevent vandalism as much as possible.

The two photos above show what a visitor sees when approaching the site: a decorated  

entrance gate, a decorated facade of a house and next to that facade a tower-like structure. 

All together an abundant display of all kinds of creativity.

Life and works

Luigi Mazzilli, the one who created this art environment, was born in 1940. He became a mason by profession, married and the couple had a daughter.

From a young age he had the idea to do something different than usual. Something flashy. So, in addition to his daily work, he collected for many years all kinds of items that could be used to embellish a building.

And then, in the 1990s he started an extensive decoration project. He was in his fifties and continued this project intensively for about thirty years until in the 2020s the creation had the impressive appearance as shown in the images in this post.. 

Currently Mazzilli is in his early 80s.

The house

The decorated house is the most eye-catching part of the art environment.

The available publications about the creation do not mention the extent to which Mazzilli himself updated the design of this house. One might assume that its original shape corresponded to a rectangular box. However, the top of that box now features a number of extensive semi-circular emblems, all topped with a small tower. 

Semicircular columns have been added to each of the four corners of the building.

If the design of the house and its upper part has taken place in the manner supposed, then it is a particularly successful architectural transformation.

All walls of the house, the four columns and all roof elements are elaborately decorated.

The shells that are part of the decoration were collected by Mazzilli himself on neighboring beaches. He has also been intensively busy processing mirrors and other glassware into small decorations and searching for all kinds of colorful stones.

Transforming and decorating the original house has meant that the art environment now has a defining element with a distinct allure.

Other elements

Another important element of this art environment is the entrance. 

From the country road along which the site is situated to the gate and then further into the art environment. the terrain is completely covered with a mosaic of stone items.

Before a visitor reaches the gate. there are stone benches on both sides and an inscription in the mosaic welcoming visitors. The entrance itself is formed by an iron fence, surrounded by decorated columns on which an equally decorated overarching pediment rests, bearing the initials LM.

Another striking stand-alone element in this art environment is the tower-like structure, as can be seen in the second image from the top. This creation, which stands along the road to the right of the entrance, is equipped with five more or less round basins and can function as a fountain.

For the rest the outdoor area of the house features all kinds of smaller, stand-alone creations, such as some fifty stone sculptures of lions, dinosaurs and a dragon that breathes real fire.

In November 2023, when Mazzilli was 83 years old, he was interviewed by Thomas Fox, who strives to uncover places of cultural and educational value. The meeting is captured on the video in the documentation.

In that interview, Mazzilli made a statement worth reproducing here: Humanity is destined to create works, so try to see if this possibility exists within yourself. And if you have it, take it outside. Anyone who has the idea in their heart to do something different should just start doing it.

A heart-warming point of view indeed.

Documentation

* Article (November 2023) in newspaper Corato Live, with a variety of images

* Article (October 2019) in newspaper Bari Edita, also with a variety of images

* Article on website Costruttori di Babele, with photos

Video

* Video (November 2923, YouTube, 12'20") by Thomas Fox, entitled Villa Fantasy, un tesoro nascosto a Corato (Villa Fantasy, a hidden treasure in Corato)

Luigi Mazzilli

Villa Fantasy

address is not made available

Corato, dept Bari, region Apulia, Italy