Alghero, Garden of Villa Costantino

Villa Costantino's garden. Photo by Angela Nieddu, 2025, from Catalogo BBCC

Villa Costantino, with adjoining garden, was built in 1927 outside the perimeter of the walled city of Alghero, in an area that expanded between the 19th and 20th centuries. During the 20th century, the building underwent changes and functional adaptations, until the restoration took place in the early 2000s, after which it was used as the headquarters of the Coral Museum. The villa, decentralized from the lot, determines the presence of two open areas: the green space located to the south-west and occupying the main part of the outdoor area, and a paved courtyard located at the back and along the northeastern margin. The green space has an articulated mixed ornamental plant, characterized by flower beds bordered by concrete curbs and hedgerows shaped with pitosphorus that define internal paths and microenvironments. The fulcrum of the composition is the central exedra, a semicircular space in gravel highlighted by a tall, exeder-shaped bay hedge connected by steps to a lower level, also organized in flower beds with irregular margins. On the same floor as the exedra, near the villa, there are pseudo rectangular flower beds delimited by hedges that house tree species and other linear bay hedges. Among the species present there are palm trees and citrus fruits. There are also two specimens of araucaria, one of which is quite tall. The installation is completed by some contemporary art installations, inserted in such a way as to extend the museum itinerary outside and to make the green space an integral part of the exhibition experience.

Aspects of interest
The garden, created as an appurtenant space of the Liberty villa, now also acts as an outdoor area of the Coral Museum. In this capacity, it is enhanced through installations and thematic installations that strengthen its connection with the exhibition itinerary, transforming it into an environment integrated with the educational and narrative functions of the museum. The green space has dense vegetation distributed in such a way as to articulate the whole into microenvironments. The fulcrum of the system is the central exedra, an open space from which there are two different levels connected by steps.