Villa Giacomina, Architectural ensemble in Lidköping, Sweden.
Villa Giacomina is an architectural complex near a sandy beach in Lidköping. The ensemble comprises a main building, a pleasure house, stone walls, and a southern gate, situated within pine forests and open grass areas.
The estate was first recorded in 1574 as Jernslätt and belonged to the Lillie family in 1685. In 1790, governor Claes Julius Ekeblad laid out a park and built an octagonal brick pavilion that still stands. Count Gustaf Piper acquired the property in 1818, rebuilt it as a two-storey Italian-style villa, and renamed it after his late wife Jacquette Du Rietz. The complex has been a listed building since 1979.
The name Giacomina is the Italian form of Jacquette, the wife of Count Gustaf Piper who died in 1816; he renamed the estate after acquiring it in 1818. The octagonal brick pavilion built in 1790 still stands in the English park. From February 1942 to January 1943 the Lidköping branch of the Red Cross ran a children's home here for Finnish war children, ten places at a time; 16 children stayed, five later placed with local foster families.
Parking is available roughly 200 meters from the beach, with public restrooms at the main entrance on Lockörnsvägen. The open grass areas allow for walking and informal activities around the grounds.
The sports club Villa BK, founded in 1934 near the manor, took its name from Villa Giacomina and became successful in bandy. During February 1942 to January 1943 the Lidköping branch of the Red Cross ran a children's home here for ten Finnish war children; 16 children stayed in total and five were placed with local foster families.
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