A postcard from the early 1900s and a blast from the past!
At the beginning of the ‘900 the life in Levanto was quiet, with no industries, with a mainly local trade and with an agriculture not susceptible to major changes. However, the construction of the new railway section Genoa – La Spezia (1872-1873) and the consequent arrival of the first tourists, gave a new impetus to the emerging economy. Construction became more beautiful, more rational; streets and squares, new palaces and new buildings took the place of old houses to accommodate families who became wealthy or rich and the villas of the “foreign tourists” arose numerously.
The first bathing establishments equipped with sanitary equipment were born, with a vast solarium and beaches of fine sand. In the early 1900s there were the Sirio, Eden and Vallesanta Baths. The Bagni Eden in the first post-war period were rebuilt in rationalist style with a seawater pool. The Casino of Levanto was actually a gaming hall and exerted a strong appeal especially towards an “aristocratic” tourism.
The villas built along the “Passeggiata della Pietra” are the tangible example of elite tourism that visited often Levanto in those years. The monumental complex of the Agnelli Family, with an immense park, swimming pool and tennis courts, built by the founder of Fiat at the foot of the promontory of Punta Mesco is the image of this development that the town had. Summer evenings came alive at the Casino’s gaming tables and parties were never lacking in its large ballroom. During the day, however, at the edge of the pool, with trampoline and platform, the most prominent families bathed and sunbathed. Still in the 60s artists and songwriters of international fame performed there, such as Mina, Ornella Vanoni and Gino Paoli, Casino manager at the time.