Villa Zilveli

The Villa Zilveli once stood on the slopes of the Butte Bergeyre as a striking example of nineteen thirties modernist architecture. Designed by the Austrian architect Jean Welz and completed in nineteen thirty-three, the house was a birthday gift from the engineer Athanase Zilveli to his wife. It was built using reinforced concrete and rested on slender pillars, a design choice that allowed the structure to hover above the uneven hillside while offering wide, panoramic views of the city.