5 April 2019
The History of Villa La Babina
The stately park of Villa La Babina is immersed in the countryside on the outskirts of the small borgo of Sasso Morelli, which lies on the plains leading away from Imola; the borgo was renovated by the architect Cosimo Morelli at the end of the 18th century.
This carefully landscaped park has all the key characteristics of the 19th century parks that adjoined the mansion houses built on the plains surrounding Bologna.
Emerging from the plain like a green ‘island', it features the following classic elements: a screen of trees surrounding the buildings and extensive lawns and open spaces.
Today, it retains its original rural setting and so offers a purity of landscape that has, in so many cases, been lost to encroaching urbanisation.
The rectangular ‘green' screen consists of arboreal species dominated by the bay-oak and the holm-oak. Some of the trees are more than a hundred years old, such as the monumental European white elm (Ulmus laevis). Natural, ongoing evolution has partially modified the species of the perimeter bushes, making, from a landscape point of view, the passage to the external plains much more gradual.
A classic oval shape defines the inner gardens: this is where the various paths - all with a strictly winding, curved route – meet. Here, the evergreens prevail over the deciduous trees, many of them the result of the replanting that was intended to repair damage caused during the Second World War.
Two splendid, towering Atlas Cedars are particularly impressive.
Enclosed within the park lies Villa La Babina, an old holiday home that was renovated at the end of the 18th century; it retains architectural and decorative elements of the neo-classical period.
In 1999 the villa was purchased by the CLAI Cooperative with the aim of using the building as its managerial centre.
Work aimed at restoring and improving the park was begun; this involved extensive replanting of trees and shrubs, with preference being given to broadleaved trees and indigenous species: lime, white beech and bay-oak.
Nestling among the trees, there is also a fine collection of hydrangeas.
This carefully landscaped park has all the key characteristics of the 19th century parks that adjoined the mansion houses built on the plains surrounding Bologna.
Emerging from the plain like a green ‘island', it features the following classic elements: a screen of trees surrounding the buildings and extensive lawns and open spaces.
Today, it retains its original rural setting and so offers a purity of landscape that has, in so many cases, been lost to encroaching urbanisation.
The rectangular ‘green' screen consists of arboreal species dominated by the bay-oak and the holm-oak. Some of the trees are more than a hundred years old, such as the monumental European white elm (Ulmus laevis). Natural, ongoing evolution has partially modified the species of the perimeter bushes, making, from a landscape point of view, the passage to the external plains much more gradual.
A classic oval shape defines the inner gardens: this is where the various paths - all with a strictly winding, curved route – meet. Here, the evergreens prevail over the deciduous trees, many of them the result of the replanting that was intended to repair damage caused during the Second World War.
Two splendid, towering Atlas Cedars are particularly impressive.
Enclosed within the park lies Villa La Babina, an old holiday home that was renovated at the end of the 18th century; it retains architectural and decorative elements of the neo-classical period.
In 1999 the villa was purchased by the CLAI Cooperative with the aim of using the building as its managerial centre.
Work aimed at restoring and improving the park was begun; this involved extensive replanting of trees and shrubs, with preference being given to broadleaved trees and indigenous species: lime, white beech and bay-oak.
Nestling among the trees, there is also a fine collection of hydrangeas.
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Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.- May Sarton - |
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