5 Of The Most Beautiful Gardens And Parks In Italy

1. The Gardens At The Villa Visconti Borromeo Arese Litta In Lainate

The beautiful Villa Visconti Borromeo Arese Litta is located in Lainate, twenty kilometres north-west of Milan, and was built between the 16th and 18th centuries. First commissioned for Count Pirro I Visconti Borromeo, work began on the villa and her gardens in 1585 and showcases the work of many famous architects, artists, and artisans of the time, including the architect Martino Bassi, sculptors Francesco Brambilla Il Giovane and Marco Antonio Prestinari, painters Camillo Procaccini and Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli (known as Morazzone), Agostino Lodola and Giovanni Battista Maestri (called “il Volpino”). The gardens are an incredible feat in which you will find mosaics, statues, frescoes, fountains, rich planting, architectural and water features, and much more besides. A popular place for the meeting of the leading thinkers and cultural figures for parties and events throughout the centuries, the gardens continue to play host to similar events for the public to this day.

2. The Orto Botanico Di Palermo

Botanic gardens are almost always an excellent and consistently satisfying tourist attraction, no matter what city you might be visiting and the Orto Botanico di Palermo in Sicily is no exception to the rule. In fact, it is a particularly beautiful and incredible example. Located just a few blocks from the seafront in Palermo, bordering the Kalsa district, in the Villa Giulia park, the Orto Botanico was created by the University of Palermo to study medical and agricultural plant species. One of the oldest modern centres of botanical studies in the world, it was first opened in 1795 and is still used as a centre of scientific research and in the study and conservation of the environment to this day. However, it is also incredibly beautiful, featuring neoclassical structures based on designs by Trombetta, Marabitti, and Venanzio Marvuglia and sculptures like the two sphinxes flanking the steps leading to the main building by sculptor Vitale Tucciom, in addition to the extraordinary collections of plants, lush greenery, fascinating flowers, and trees. In particular, the garden is home to an amazing collection of hundreds of tropical and semi-tropical plants from all over the world, many of which were introduced into Europe by the University of Palermo, including Burmese bamboo, coffee plants, papaya, mandarins, loquats, cotton, and sugar cane. As well as this, there is a multi-tiered pond called the Aquarium with several species of lotus and water lily and there are lots of different kinds of cacti, succulents, palms, and many other exotic species of plants dotted around the gardens, with green parrots relaxing among them. Lush, fascinating, and stunning, it is a must-see garden in Italy!

3. Parco Giardino Sigurtà

Located just a few kilometres outside of the city of Verona in Veneto, amidst the Moreniche hills and overlooking Lake Garda, is the Parco Giardino Sigurtà, which is often listed as one of the most beautiful gardens in the world. It was first established as a park all the way back in 1617 and was sold by its last owner, Dr Carlo Sigurtà, in 1941. Opened to the public in 1978, the park stretches over a whopping 600,000 square meters and is made up of a diverse landscape that includes woodlands, a medicinal herb garden, a grotto, a staggering 18 flowering ornamental lakes, incredible fields of flowers (including an astounding 1,000,000 tulips, as well as irises, roses, lilies, asters, and more), a dog cemetery, the Hermitage, the Great Lawn, the Great Oak, a farm, and more besides. The scale and variety is truly exceptional and the park also plays hosts to lots of different activities and events throughout the year as well from guided tours to bike rentals, picnics on the lawns to cosplay events, yoga evenings to photography exhibitions, and operas to table tennis tournaments. You'll never know quite what you might find at the Parco Giardino Sigurtà but the experience is sure to be interesting and beautiful!

4. Nemo’s Garden

A more unconventional entry on this list, Nemo's Garden is more of a farm than a garden and is highly unique in that it is underwater. Located in Noli, a pretty seaside town that is around 50km from Genoa, Nemo’s Garden was established by a father and son team, Sergio and Luca Gamberini, back in 2013. Conceived of when Sergio, the founder of diving equipment firm Ocean Reef Group, was on holidays looking out over the water and suddenly realised that underwater conditions might just be perfect for growing basil, which typically flourishes in protected, sunny spots that have well-drained soils and a stable temperature. Nemo’s Garden then went from one man’s experiment in gardening and became a potential, “alternative system of agriculture, especially dedicated to those areas where environmental conditions, economical or morphologic reasons make plants growth extremely difficult.” Today, the farm consists of 6 biospheres (transparent plastic domes) that are connected by a central “tree of life,” or control tower, and are located 20 feet below the surface of the sea. They house more than 700 plants, including tomatoes, basil, and strawberries and can be visited if you are a certified diver spending time in vacation rental in Liguria by contacting the team at DIVENJOY at info@divenjoy.it.

5. Parco Sempione

While most head to Milan for the trendy cafes, elegant bars, excellent restaurants, and chic shops, amidst the vibrant nightlife and the hustle and bustle of this metropolitan destination, you will find a perfect oasis of calm to retreat to for a while and catch your breath: Sempione Park, or Parco Sempione. Established between 1890 and 1893, the park is made up of 47 hectares of lawns, buildings, and an artificial lake. Originally the hunting grounds located behind the castle of the ruling Visconti family, the last of the Visconti, Filippo Maria, created the first garden on the site in the fifteenth century and turned the grounds into something more manicured. By the eighteenth century, it had fallen into neglect but under Napoleon, in the nineteenth century, plans were drawn up to turn it into a military parade ground that would stretch from the Sforza Castle to a monumental victory arch. These plans were ultimately scrapped when he fell from power but at the end of that same century, the land was reorganised in the popular English landscape style by local architect Emilio Alemagna. This became the basis of the park as it exists today. Home to several buildings and institutions including the Aquarium of Milan and the Arco della Pace, a triumphal arch begun under Napoleon and completed decades later to celebrate Italian unification, the park is a beautiful space filled with trees and flowers and animal pals. This is where locals come to drink coffee, wander, chat with friends, enjoy the beauty of the park, and attend a diverse calendar of cultural events from concerts to plays to fairs. Those visiting Milan should definitely endeavour to do the same.

So, the next time you find yourself in Italy be sure to take in her incredible gardens and parks as it is home to a rather impressive selection of some of the most beautiful and interesting outdoor spaces in the globe...