THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. THE BOMBARDMENTS OF THE LAST WAR.

During the twentieth century the building of the new Stazione Marittima and the works to widen the road to the south of the palace (Via Adua) in the ’30s, as well as, later, the construction of the flyover (1962-65) and of service buildings in the port put a definite end to the centuries-old relationship of the residence with the sea, encircling what was left of the original monumental complex with an intensely crowded road system.

The sea loggia built by Giovanni Andrea II was expropriated by the Comune in the course of the works on the Via Adua and suffered damaging alterations. At present, only the blocked up entrance of the loggia with two ramps is on the inside of the garden, while on the outside what remains of the first floor houses the power plant of the underground.

In 1944 some devastating bombardments by English troops caused considerable damage both to the palace and to the garden, as can be seen from photos of the period. The west wing of the portico was razed to the ground, the west communication ramp between the courtyard and the garden collapsed, and the great Fountain of Neptune was shelled.

Immediately after the war part of the garden was used as an outdoor cinema (which continued as such until 1997), and for a time the whole space was turned into a public park.

After the war the garden underwent a process of accelerating degradation, gradually turning into an abandoned and disordered thicket. This was the situation which the recent restoration works were designed to put right.