Italian Villas and Gardens
I won’t pretend I’ve seen all Italian villas and gardens. In fact, I’ve only visited a few, and most of them were slightly disappointing. Until I realized that I’d completely missed the point.
As a northern European, I’m used to English gardens with their overwhelming fertility in terms of fruit, flowers and fragrances. To me gardens should imitate the beauty of nature minus the ugly parts; stimulate the senses and provide plenty of places to explore and to hide.
Classic Italian gardens provide no places to get lost or take cover. They are open and symmetrical, and the flowers – if there are any – are only one of the four factors – the others being marble, water and perennial plants – intended to emphasize the relation between the landscape and the house.
Seen this way, Italian Renaissance gardens like these hold some fascination, and here’s my top five.
The garden at Venaria Reale outside Turin.
Reggia di Venaria Reale
What I love about the gardens surrounding the royal palace in Venaria Reale outside Turin is the view of the snow clad Alps. The palace was built in 1675 as a ‘hunting lodge’ for the Royal House of Savoy, but it is nevertheless one of the largest royal residences in the world. During the Napoleonic wars the buildings were used as barracks, while the garden was used as training ground. The structure remained in the service of the Italian Army until 1978, and it has just recently been restored and opened to the public. The new garden is in modern style but it contains all the classical renaissance elements – as well as a magnificent view.
One of the five courtyards hidden behind Mantova’s Ducal Palace
Mantova Palazzo Ducale
There are four gardens and five courtyards hidden within the Ducal Palace in Mantua, and they all possess diverse and distinctive characteristics. I like the seclusion of a meticulously well-kept private garden surrounded by tall buildings like Isabella d’Este’s secret garden in the Corte Vecchia. Too bad the Palace has banned photography (in an attempt to protect their sale of postcards?), so the picture does not do the place justice.
The mannarist garden at Villa Lante at Bagnaia
Villa Lante at Bagnaia
Villa Lante outside Viterbo in Lazio has one of Italy’s most famous mannerist gardens designed to impress and surprise visitors by virtuoso water displays, sculptures, movement and drama. Here you have cascades, fountains and dripping grottoes meant to symbolize the tale of humanity’s descent from the Golden Age. Every aspect of the garden is perfectly proportioned and richly detailed with the buildings as decorative garden ornaments.
Villa Lante was heavily damaged during the WWII, but it has been completely restored in recent years.
The Italian Tivoli gardens
Villa d’Este in Tivoli
The most famous and important mannerist garden in Italy is Villa d’Este in Tivoli with spectacular waterworks and theatrical effects telling the story of the Este family’s ancestors going back to antiquity. You enter at the lowest point and climb uphill on a series of terraces. Along the way there’s music played by water organ, statues and innumerable fountains. A true waterworks and gardening extravaganza.
Gardens and water fountains in Caserta
Reggia di Caserta
The totally impressive part of this enormous garden is the River Road, originally planned to run 30 km to Naples. The main axis is over 3 km in length and was integrated with the town plan for Caserta. It is flanked by artificial fountains and cascades one of which has a fall of 78 metres. There are a great many sculptures based on the myths in Ovid’s Metamorphosis. As well as a botanical garden in the naturalistic English style. In style and glory Reggia di Caserta is comparable to Versaille outside Paris and Peterhof near St. Petersburg.
As mentioned this list of Italian gardens is based on my rather limited experiences, so I’d love to hear about your favourites.
Wow! Amazing gardens, next time in Italy, I must go and see some of those!
The Reggia di Caserta looks unbelievable. I am a gardening nut and love to visit any and all gardens. In Bellagio last summer I visited the Gardens of Villa Melzi – much more formal than I’m used too and lots of textural elements. Still very lovely.
I really love gardens of all kinds, so next time I am in Italy, I definitely want to visit some. I think the only ones I visited in Italy before were the Boboli & Bardini Gardens.
I love gardens also and I have been to the Reggia di Caserta. My favourite Italian garden is in Verona – the Giardini Guisti. It’s very formal down the bottom but becomes more lush as you climb the hill behind and the views over the city are wonderful. It is usually about the view in Italian gardens isn’t it.
What a wealth of inspiration. Melzi is amazing for the view and an orgy of rhododendron. Bardini was originally an English garden with a magnificent view of Florence. And I haven’t been to the Giardini Giusti yet, but the photos show a beautifully sculpted garden with close cropped hedges that I really must see. They deserve another top 5
Wow, these are some grand looking ones. I love visiting gardens and estates especially in Europe. Unfortunately, we were too busy exploring other parts that we totally missed visiting any gardens or villas during our last Italy visit. I definitely to make it a point to see some next time. I loved that Mantova Palazzo Ducale. It has a very fairy-tale looking appeal.
Thx for connecting with me on foodbuzz. I just subscribed to your blog feed and can’t wait to see what your next post will be!
My list of gardens to visit has grown recently thanks to Monty Don and his fabulous series on Gardens of Italy. In fact my next post on News From Italy is about our recent visit to one of the gardens you mention here!
What fabulous gardens.! There are some beautiful gardens around Lucca and Lake Como that I have seen but a visit to Reggia di Caserta is a trip I must make. Fancy planning to run the River Road to Naples!
These look amazing. With my new-found love of gardening, I’ll be visiting more gardens when I’m next in Italy. I have lovely memories from the mid 80s of the Boboli Gardens in Florence.
I have been to the Villa d’Este and to Caserta and I am happy you have included both. Also close to Villa d’Este is the Villa Hadriana: a bit different (really different) from the type of villas you have mentioned here, but I think worth a visit, if only to compare villas at different points in history (this one being from the 2nd century AD…).
There are a lot of good places in Italy, where people can relax and spend time with pleasure.
Im an Italy lover. I have been in lot of beautiful places in Italy and now Im planning a Tivoli trip, and help me a lot tis post.
For sure will visit that beautiful villa!
Thanks for sharing!!
I’ve just watched an episode of ‘Monty Don’s Italian Gardens’, a four-part BBC series. The third episode is about the Gardens of Ninfa, south of Rome. They look beautiful and it prompted me to write my latest blogpost about them. Hope to visit one day.
Thank you for starting by our Reggia di Venaria Reale right near Turin!
It is indeed a miniature Versailles!
there are so many beautiful places in Italy that often Turin and its jewels are still overlooked :(
Thank you again!!
Actually I’ve got more posts on Turin, Piedmont and Veneria Reale in the pipeline. You’ve got so much to see and write about:)