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World famous for its round table encounters with Nobel prize winners like G. Domagk (sulfamidics), A. Fleming (penicillin), S. A. Waksman (streptomycin), K. Lorenz (ethology), A. Sabin (anti-polio vaccine), the park has rapidly become an attraction not only for famous botanists but also for people who simply love nature.
It all began thanks to a ….horse-drawn gig. In 1941 there was hardly any petrol available, due to the war, and Doctor Carlo Sigurtà decided to buy one and so went to Veleggio, a village 8 kilometres from Peschiera sul Garda well known for its horse-drawn traps and gigs. And there, purely on impulse, he bought 50 hectares of farm land. Originally this estate had been the orchard of an aristocratic 18th century villa, Villa Maffei, designed by V. Pellesina, a pupil of Palladio, which in the mid 19th century had for a while been Napoleon III’s headquarters.
Thanks to an ancient right authorising water to be taken from the river Mincio, which flows beside the estate, the arid hilly landscape has been covered with abundant and flourishing vegetation, from which various magnificent trees stand out, like the Great Oak, probably about 400 years old, various superb exemplars of beech, numerous Gingko biloba, cypresses and thousands of Buxus which the expert hands of gardeners have turned into over 40,000 living and often surreal sculptures. Almost unlimited water from enormous wells, created subsequently, has meant that the whole estate can be run as one vast and varied garden which during the year offers five principal flowering periods: tulips, irises, roses, waterlilies and asters. The Hermitage, the miniature Castle dedicated to “benefactors of humanity”, the horizontal sundial, the immense lawn and the 18 little lakes with tropical fish – all contribute to the overall fascination of this truly unique park, which can also be visited in a miniature train that runs through the whole estate.
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Address
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Via Cavour 1
37067 Valeggio sul Mincio (VR)
tel. 045/6371033
fax 045/6370959
Sito
Web
E-mail
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Informations
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from 7h March to 7th November, every day from 9-18.
Closing time 19. |
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Tickets
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full price € 9,00
over 65 € 7,00
ages 5-14 € 6,00
Children under 5 free of charge, 100% physically disadvantaged visitors with ANMIC membership free of charge, their minders at reduced price € 7,00.
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