10 Febbraio 2017
Giardino Barbarigo PIzzoni Ardemani
From the blog of Simonetta Chiarugi, an exclusive preview for the Friends of Grandi Amici Italiani
''The mystic garden Valsanzibio''
If you profess yourselves as gardening lovers and enjoy visiting gardens, your culture must also include the history of gardens and there's no better doctrine than learning live. Fortunately we live in a country where history and culture are not in deficit and, for those who want to deepen their knowledge on the subject, examples of great value are offered.
If you want to admire one of the most important and best preserved gardens of the seventeenth century, the Barbarigo-Pizzoni Ardemani Garden in Valsanzibio represents a refined example of Italian garden and it's one of the jewels of the circuit Grandi Giardini Italiani (Great Italian Gardens).
The property arises in a fishing valley of a swampy area of the Padua countryside, in the ‘500 it was acquired by the Barbarigo family and in 1631 the Venetian nobleman Francesco Barbarigo Zuane made a solemn vow to God to create there a monumental garden.
Visiting the Barbarigo Garden, as a witness of Grandi Giardini Italiani, I took photographs and notes to invite you to do with me a virtual tour of this place that not only offers amusement, but a strong Christian message too, a route that leads from the earthly to the eternal life through metaphors and different purification passages.
The garden works started in 1665 with a Luigi (younger brother of Gianlorenzo) Bernini's project, the design provides an implant that divides the space into regular sections separated by orthogonal avenues with prospective lawns features and boxwood walls according to a Roman plant scheme, the center of the composition consists of the Fountain of Pila, the term (pila=battery), before being assigned to the electric battery, used to indicate the loading, Valsanzibio garden was the place where waters converged. The garden project was carried out with careful planning of hydraulic engineering able to regiment the fall of the water.
The exceptional monumental Baroque garden was created as a emblem of the way of perfection that leads man from Error to Truth. The journey starts at the portal of Diana, hunting and mutations goddess, the visitor crosses a salvation path and walks through the stagnant water of the swamp to the crystalline water purified by passage in the two fish ponds of rivers and winds.
At the Pila, the path suggests an act of humility and invites to cross the labyrinth that helps to get stronger for facing life's difficulties. The maze is worth a specific post and I decided to write about it later on!
Follow me some more, we will cross the landscaping area which is home to great sized trees and like most of the plant species present in the garden date back to the period of its creation. The rich Venetians in order to emphasize the power of their families were importing plants of great value, the Cedar of California, Calocedrus decurrens, in Valsanzibio, is one of the oldest specimens in Europe. Noteworthy is also the venerable magnolia that seems to have been one of the first imported.
I appreciated very much the plant tagging realized with wooden labels specifically created in tune with nature as for the owner's, a true botany passionate, will.
The tour continues towards the third fish pond, followed by the island of rabbits that, surrounded by a canal, is the allegory of the earthly life. Further on there's the portion of the garden with the statue of Cronos, god of time on the base of which is written “Volan col Tempo l'hore e fuggon gli anni” (the hours fly with the time and years run away) and invites to enjoy life in every single moment, difficulties can be overcome and not everything will end on earth, the spiritual part will be raised to heaven and eternal life. Finally, before reaching the villa, a look at the fountain of the water plays before the terracing reachable through seven steps, allegory of the planets, on each step verses illustrating the construction of the garden are engraved.
Purified after the visit to this garden I nourish with me a great lesson in history and life with the awareness that even if time is running out, masterpieces remain and it is our duty to protect them and make them known.
PS:January and February are the months closed to the public. Maintenance work occur, they're primarily aimed at the pruning of the boxwood walls, that may also reach about 5 meters of height and are unique in the world for their size. The operation is carried out in an archaic way with wooden stairs and cutting guides. In some particular periods of the years it is possible to attend at the event.
''The mystic garden Valsanzibio''
If you profess yourselves as gardening lovers and enjoy visiting gardens, your culture must also include the history of gardens and there's no better doctrine than learning live. Fortunately we live in a country where history and culture are not in deficit and, for those who want to deepen their knowledge on the subject, examples of great value are offered.
If you want to admire one of the most important and best preserved gardens of the seventeenth century, the Barbarigo-Pizzoni Ardemani Garden in Valsanzibio represents a refined example of Italian garden and it's one of the jewels of the circuit Grandi Giardini Italiani (Great Italian Gardens).
The property arises in a fishing valley of a swampy area of the Padua countryside, in the ‘500 it was acquired by the Barbarigo family and in 1631 the Venetian nobleman Francesco Barbarigo Zuane made a solemn vow to God to create there a monumental garden.
Visiting the Barbarigo Garden, as a witness of Grandi Giardini Italiani, I took photographs and notes to invite you to do with me a virtual tour of this place that not only offers amusement, but a strong Christian message too, a route that leads from the earthly to the eternal life through metaphors and different purification passages.
The garden works started in 1665 with a Luigi (younger brother of Gianlorenzo) Bernini's project, the design provides an implant that divides the space into regular sections separated by orthogonal avenues with prospective lawns features and boxwood walls according to a Roman plant scheme, the center of the composition consists of the Fountain of Pila, the term (pila=battery), before being assigned to the electric battery, used to indicate the loading, Valsanzibio garden was the place where waters converged. The garden project was carried out with careful planning of hydraulic engineering able to regiment the fall of the water.
The exceptional monumental Baroque garden was created as a emblem of the way of perfection that leads man from Error to Truth. The journey starts at the portal of Diana, hunting and mutations goddess, the visitor crosses a salvation path and walks through the stagnant water of the swamp to the crystalline water purified by passage in the two fish ponds of rivers and winds.
At the Pila, the path suggests an act of humility and invites to cross the labyrinth that helps to get stronger for facing life's difficulties. The maze is worth a specific post and I decided to write about it later on!
Follow me some more, we will cross the landscaping area which is home to great sized trees and like most of the plant species present in the garden date back to the period of its creation. The rich Venetians in order to emphasize the power of their families were importing plants of great value, the Cedar of California, Calocedrus decurrens, in Valsanzibio, is one of the oldest specimens in Europe. Noteworthy is also the venerable magnolia that seems to have been one of the first imported.
I appreciated very much the plant tagging realized with wooden labels specifically created in tune with nature as for the owner's, a true botany passionate, will.
The tour continues towards the third fish pond, followed by the island of rabbits that, surrounded by a canal, is the allegory of the earthly life. Further on there's the portion of the garden with the statue of Cronos, god of time on the base of which is written “Volan col Tempo l'hore e fuggon gli anni” (the hours fly with the time and years run away) and invites to enjoy life in every single moment, difficulties can be overcome and not everything will end on earth, the spiritual part will be raised to heaven and eternal life. Finally, before reaching the villa, a look at the fountain of the water plays before the terracing reachable through seven steps, allegory of the planets, on each step verses illustrating the construction of the garden are engraved.
Purified after the visit to this garden I nourish with me a great lesson in history and life with the awareness that even if time is running out, masterpieces remain and it is our duty to protect them and make them known.
PS:January and February are the months closed to the public. Maintenance work occur, they're primarily aimed at the pruning of the boxwood walls, that may also reach about 5 meters of height and are unique in the world for their size. The operation is carried out in an archaic way with wooden stairs and cutting guides. In some particular periods of the years it is possible to attend at the event.
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