Villa Genoese Zerbi, Art exhibition gallery in Reggio Calabria, Italy

Villa Genoese Zerbi is an art museum in Reggio Calabria that combines historical architecture with contemporary exhibitions. The building displays gothic arches, towers, and medieval-style battlements across its terraces, while showcasing modern artworks inside.

A Baroque villa of the Genoese marquises stood here until 1860; the family added the Zerbi name at the end of the 19th century. The 1908 Messina earthquake destroyed it, and engineers Domenico Genoese Zerbi, Pertini and Marzats rebuilt it in 1915 in a Venetian neo-Gothic style, unlike the earlier villa. It left the family's hands and served as a city exhibition venue until 2011.

The name Genoese Zerbi joins the old Reggio patrician family Genoese with the Zerbi surname added at the end of the 19th century. Until 2011 the villa housed the city-run exhibition centre, and it hosted the Venice Biennale's southern Italy shows. In 2023, after years of neglect, the spaces passed to the Sottozero gelateria and its high-end pastry business.

The building sits on Via Zaleuco and is straightforward to locate using the street name as your guide. Visitors should check ahead for current exhibition schedules, as the venue regularly hosts different shows throughout the year.

Since 2023 the villa has been managed by the gelateria Sottozero, which moved its high-end pastry production into the former noble residence after years of neglect. The exhibition use that had made it a venue of the Venice Biennale in southern Italy ended before this change.