Archive for 'Parks & Gardens'

The Villa Aldobrandini is a villa in Frascati, a town in the province of Rome. The original villa on the site was built by Alessandro Rufini in 1550. In 1598, it was given by Pope Clement VIII to his nephew, Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, from whom the villa takes its name. It is the only papal villa which is not owned by the state and is, instead, still owned and occupied by members of the Aldobrandini family, though its gardens are (luckily) open to the public on a daily basis.

Find a villa with pool in the Latium region and you could spend a day wandering these historic and famous gardens which are considered the best of early Italian Baroque style.

The Villa Pisani at Stra was built in the 18th century for the wealthy Venetian Pisani family to celebrate the election of Alvise Pisani as Doge (ruler of Venice). Designed by Francesco Maria Preti, though commissioned from Girolamo Fringimelica, work was begun in 1735. It is much more formal and imposing than most Venetian villas and presents an extraordinary façade rich in elaborate ornamentation with festoons, caryatids, putti and statues. The property did not spend long in the hands of the Pisani family; it was bought by Napoleon in 1807 and given to his adoptive son, the Viceroy of Italy. After a period in the possession of the Savoy family, it became the property of the Italian state.

Bomarzo, a town in Latium in the lower valley of the Tiber, is most well-known for a highly unique attraction. Officially called the Gardens of Bomarzo, they are also referred to as the Sacred Garden, and that most descriptive of names, Bomarzo Monster Park. Created in the 16th century, the gardens are set in a forest at the bottom of a valley beneath Orsini Castle and feature bizarre and fantastical sculptures and small buildings alongside the natural beauty. If you feel like wandering through a Dali painting, this is just the thing for you! Find a luxury villa in Latium and you can explore this truly unique garden for yourself.

Gargano is a sub-region of the province of Foggia in Apulia in Italy. It is probably most well-known for its National Park and natural beauty. Like most of the south of Italy, it is comprised of rocky cliffs and azure seas but is especially lush due to the fact that the peninsula is partially covered by forestry.

This is made up of the remains of an ancient forest of beeches and oaks (the “Foresta Umbra” that was once part of the forestry which covered most of central Europe) as well as the Apennine deciduous montane forest.

A visit to the splendid capital of Rome would not be complete without seeing the site where the mighty Circus Maximus once stood.

This was the first and largest chariot racing stadium in all of Rome that could hold up to 250,000 spectators.

Situated between the Palatine and Aventine hills, the remains of the Circus Maximus is now barely recognisable from the huge stadium it once was and is now a public park.

The Circus Maximus site was first established by the Etruscan kings of Rome to grant the publics’ desire for an entertainment meeting ground. Julius Caesar ordered the expansion of this space around 50 BC to accommodate upwards of 270,000 people to view the chariot racing or other entertainment from seats within the stadium or standing on the surrounding hills.