Grand Hotel Imperial, Levico Terme
Levico’s Grand Hotel Imperial went up around 1900, when a Berlin company turned a Trentino valley into an Austro-Hungarian spa. The name still fits: it was built to receive an empire’s guests.
At a glance
The Grand Hotel Imperial stands at the head of Levico’s spa park, the centrepiece of a resort built almost from scratch at the turn of the twentieth century. Levico was then part of Austria-Hungary, and a Berlin-based company led by the entrepreneur Julius Pollacsek bought the land in 1898 and laid out hotel, baths and park together. The hotel opened around 1900 in a refined Liberty (Art Nouveau) manner.
Key facts
- Built: around 1900
- Developer: a Berlin-based company led by the entrepreneur Julius Pollacsek
- Context: Levico belonged to Austria-Hungary until 1918
- Architect: the German architect Stahn; built by the Trentino firm Casimiro Tomasi
- Style: Liberty (Italian Art Nouveau)
- Setting: at the head of the Parco secolare delle Terme
- Status: still operating as a hotel
History
Levico’s arsenical-ferruginous springs had been exploited since the mid-nineteenth century, but the modern spa dates from 1898, when Julius Adrian Pollacsek bought the land for 100,000 florins. His Berlin-based company built the establishment that would draw a Central European clientele to the valley.
The Grand Hotel Imperial was the social heart of the scheme, raised around 1900 to receive the spa’s wealthiest guests under Habsburg administration. Its scale and its name announced the resort’s ambition to stand beside the great Austrian and Bohemian spas.
The First World War and the passage of Trentino to Italy in 1918 changed the spa’s fortunes, but the Imperial survived and still operates as a hotel within the historic park.
What you see
A long Liberty front looking over the spa park, symmetrical and many-windowed, its Art Nouveau detailing in the manner of the Habsburg spas around 1900.
The hotel is best seen from the surrounding Parco secolare delle Terme, with which it forms a single designed ensemble.
Practical information
- A working hotel; the exterior and park are the architectural draw
- Set within the Parco secolare delle Terme
- Combine with a walk through the spa park
- Allow 15–20 minutes
Getting there
Levico Terme is in the Valsugana, east of Trento. By car, take the SS47 Valsugana road from Trento, about 20 km; trains on the Trento–Venice Valsugana line stop at Levico Terme.
Nearby
- Parco secolare delle Terme
- The Valsugana lakes (Levico and Caldonazzo)
- Historic centre of Levico
Sources
- Comune di Levico Terme
- Provincia autonoma di Trento — cultura
- Touring Club Italiano — Trentino
Find it on the map
See this place and what’s around it →📷 Diventa un fotografo di Cultural Heritage Online
Condividi le tue foto dei luoghi: restano pubblicate con la tua firma come autore. Più vengono viste, più ti fai conoscere — e presto un concorso premierà le foto più apprezzate.
Accedi o registrati gratis per aggiungere una foto