25 June 2015
Celebrating summer in the Great Italian Gardens!
Dear readers,
officially summer is here. Now we can finally visit gardens without raincoats, hats and umbrellas! It's such a perfect time of the year to leave the city centres and drive out into the countryside; the days are longer and nature is at its very best.
My first advice is to cross the border and go and visit the Vincenzo Vela Museum in Ligornetto which is near Mendrisio, just off the motorway between Milan and Lugano. Suddenly you realise you are in Switzerland, houses few and far between and no pile ups! Vincenzo Vela was one of the most famous european sculptors of the nineteenth century (1820-1881). The museum was his home and his atelier at the same time. Just over the border from Italy you can admire the best collection of formidable sculptures of personalities of the Italian Risorgimento from Cavour to Garibaldi. The museum, that belongs now to the Swiss Confederation, has been recently restored and has a magnificent exhibition dedicated to a sculptor who, due the fact that she was a women, plus an aristocrat, in 1863 adopted a male pseudonym of Marcello. The whole museum is in elegant, light colours and the garden is a delight. A lovely collection of citrus fruit is quite an exotic touch, while the rest of the garden is taken over by drifts of lavander and wild flowers. The 'swiss touch' is that the atmosphere is quiet and relaxing, oodles of information in at least four languages, and a very civilized help yourself book shop and bar. Weldone Mrs Gianna Mina, in my opinion one of the best Museum directors in Europe.
If you are off to the sea, prehaps going down to Genova stop off and visit Villa Serra at San'Olcese. Don't get lost once off the motorway its not easy to find. Here at this time of year they have a fantastic Hydrangeas collection in full bloom. It must be due to the shade offered by the trees in the park or due to the abundance of water in the romantic lake, but above all the merit to Mrs Borgioli one of the first Italian nurseries specialized in Hydrangeas: she has worked with Architect Calvi in putting together this colection. It is a public owned park, very well run and you will find the local community loves a day out in this park.
Going in a different direction do make it out of Rome into the Tuscia countryside: it's the area where you can find so many gardens to visit: Villa Lante, Villa Farnese at Caprarola, Sacro Bosco of Bomarzo, Centro Botanico Moutan at Vitorchiano, Vacunae Rosae (near Rieti) and last but not least Castello Ruspoli of Vignanello. The property is run by two sisters. Princess Claudia has dedicated much of her life to entertaining guests and showing them round one of the oldest original parterres still exsisting. Well worth while booking an informal lunch in the garden, such a treat, quite simple but unique at the same time. The gardener will probably be trimming the boxwood: his year round job. Claudia has so many friends that pass by that you never really can tell who are turists and who are not. This year she is planning several evening events..check out when in our events section (www.grandigiardini.it).
Nearby, that means several curvy kilometers later you can stop off for an interesting afternoon at Sacro Bosco of Bomarzo. It is one of the most famous Follies in the world, and probably one of the first in time. Prince Vicino Orsini and Pirro Ligorio, an architect also famous for being a scenographer, built a very special world, both fantastic and esoteric. It is an experience that is quite a test for your clasical knowledge and personally I need a strong drink afterwards or better a dip in the local hot water springs in Viterbo or in Vasanello. Its a place that i think one has to visit several times in ones life, every time it means something different and stimulates all sorts of interpretations.
When I'm in the area, I always pop in and visit the Confidati family who have the finest Peonies collection in Europe. They were also my very first sponsor many years ago. I still can't stop thanking them for all their support.
In the meantime I continue travelling around Italy visiting gardens, its the most pleasant way to enjoy a holiday and its not bad as a job either!
Judith Wade
officially summer is here. Now we can finally visit gardens without raincoats, hats and umbrellas! It's such a perfect time of the year to leave the city centres and drive out into the countryside; the days are longer and nature is at its very best.
My first advice is to cross the border and go and visit the Vincenzo Vela Museum in Ligornetto which is near Mendrisio, just off the motorway between Milan and Lugano. Suddenly you realise you are in Switzerland, houses few and far between and no pile ups! Vincenzo Vela was one of the most famous european sculptors of the nineteenth century (1820-1881). The museum was his home and his atelier at the same time. Just over the border from Italy you can admire the best collection of formidable sculptures of personalities of the Italian Risorgimento from Cavour to Garibaldi. The museum, that belongs now to the Swiss Confederation, has been recently restored and has a magnificent exhibition dedicated to a sculptor who, due the fact that she was a women, plus an aristocrat, in 1863 adopted a male pseudonym of Marcello. The whole museum is in elegant, light colours and the garden is a delight. A lovely collection of citrus fruit is quite an exotic touch, while the rest of the garden is taken over by drifts of lavander and wild flowers. The 'swiss touch' is that the atmosphere is quiet and relaxing, oodles of information in at least four languages, and a very civilized help yourself book shop and bar. Weldone Mrs Gianna Mina, in my opinion one of the best Museum directors in Europe.
If you are off to the sea, prehaps going down to Genova stop off and visit Villa Serra at San'Olcese. Don't get lost once off the motorway its not easy to find. Here at this time of year they have a fantastic Hydrangeas collection in full bloom. It must be due to the shade offered by the trees in the park or due to the abundance of water in the romantic lake, but above all the merit to Mrs Borgioli one of the first Italian nurseries specialized in Hydrangeas: she has worked with Architect Calvi in putting together this colection. It is a public owned park, very well run and you will find the local community loves a day out in this park.
Going in a different direction do make it out of Rome into the Tuscia countryside: it's the area where you can find so many gardens to visit: Villa Lante, Villa Farnese at Caprarola, Sacro Bosco of Bomarzo, Centro Botanico Moutan at Vitorchiano, Vacunae Rosae (near Rieti) and last but not least Castello Ruspoli of Vignanello. The property is run by two sisters. Princess Claudia has dedicated much of her life to entertaining guests and showing them round one of the oldest original parterres still exsisting. Well worth while booking an informal lunch in the garden, such a treat, quite simple but unique at the same time. The gardener will probably be trimming the boxwood: his year round job. Claudia has so many friends that pass by that you never really can tell who are turists and who are not. This year she is planning several evening events..check out when in our events section (www.grandigiardini.it).
Nearby, that means several curvy kilometers later you can stop off for an interesting afternoon at Sacro Bosco of Bomarzo. It is one of the most famous Follies in the world, and probably one of the first in time. Prince Vicino Orsini and Pirro Ligorio, an architect also famous for being a scenographer, built a very special world, both fantastic and esoteric. It is an experience that is quite a test for your clasical knowledge and personally I need a strong drink afterwards or better a dip in the local hot water springs in Viterbo or in Vasanello. Its a place that i think one has to visit several times in ones life, every time it means something different and stimulates all sorts of interpretations.
When I'm in the area, I always pop in and visit the Confidati family who have the finest Peonies collection in Europe. They were also my very first sponsor many years ago. I still can't stop thanking them for all their support.
In the meantime I continue travelling around Italy visiting gardens, its the most pleasant way to enjoy a holiday and its not bad as a job either!
Judith Wade
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I fiori sono gioielli della natura; con la loro ricchezza, ella veste la sua bellezza estiva.- George Croly - |
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