At the end of September, the Carabinieri for the Protection of Cultural Heritage confiscated a collection of valuable works of art when it was determined that the tenant had moved them to two warehouses without the required consent.
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The legal dispute began in 2017 after the lease expired. The hospital management increased the rent, which led to many years of negotiations and legal disputes. The Italian Supreme Court ruled last year that the owner had the right to reclaim the premises, provided its historic identity was preserved.
A long tradition of Caffe Greco in Rome. It was visited by distinguished Poles
Caffe Greco, founded in 1760, was a meeting place for intellectuals and artists from all over Europe, also serving as the world's largest private art gallery open to the public.. The premises contained over 300 works of art – paintings, sculptures and other historic items, including many Polish souvenirs.
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Caffe Greco, under special protection of the Italian Ministry of Culture since 1953, was visited by leading European artists, including Charles Baudelaire, Friedrich Nietzsche, Goethe, Hans Christian Andersen, Stendhal, Antonio Canova, James Joyce and many Poles, including Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki, Cyprian Kamil Norwid, Henryk Sienkiewicz and Czesław Miłosz.
The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Italy also spoke out in defense of the premises in the past.
