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Villa Gamberaia
For centuries the landscape of Tuscany,
Italy, has exerted a powerful hold on the imaginations of
Italian city dwellers and foreign visitors with its human scale, and the
merging of vineyards and olive groves into gardens and then into the
villas themselves. With the revival of Classical culture from the fourteenth century,
this landscape has been incorporated architecturally into the villas and gardens that grew in the environs of the cities of Florence and
Siena, and later the villas created from castles, fortified abbeys and
towers throughout the province.
More than anywhere else, the topography here allowed use of hillsides and distant vistas. The
early Renaissance villas and gardens
were designed as retreats from public life in the busy city. They were
the ideal place for humanist debate.
Gardens of the late Renaissance and Baroque periods became more
elaborate symbols of power, adorned with rare plants, sculpture and
water works. Uniting natural and artificial beauty, they were designed
to recreate Paradise on Earth, an achievable Utopia, an accessible Arcadia.
After a period of landscape design in the English style in the
nineteenth century, the Tuscan formal garden returned in its most
glorious form in the early twentieth century, this time designed mostly
for wealthy foreigners, often by garden designers who were themselves
foreigners, foremost among them being
Cecil Pinsent, an English architect resident in
Florence.
Here we feature some of the lesser known gardens in the
Chianti Classico wine region
between Florence
and Sienna
and throughout Tuscany.
Hotel Villa Le Barone - the "Tuscan garden hotel"
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Villa Le Barone, now a romantic hotel
in Tuscany near Panzano in Chianti,
belonged to the della Robbia family of Florentine
ceramicists and artists for several hundred years. Just after
World War I, the villa was restored by the Marchesa Maria Bianca Viviani della Robbia
and not long afterwards was converted into a beautiful hotel. It
still belongs to the Marchesa's heirs who spend part of the year
here. The gardens were established in large part during the
interwar period and have now reached full maturity. The gardens
themselves together with the warm atmosphere of a Tuscan villa
make Villa Le Barone the ideal Tuscany
accommodations for garden-lovers. |
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Click here
to learn more about the Villa Le Barone Tuscan gardens.
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| "Visions
of Italy" DVD set |
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This DVD set has the full PBS TV mainly-aerial footage plus an
additional hour of material.
Highly recommended to anyone who is thinking of going to Italy, or just
wants to relive the splendour of the Italian landscape. |
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here for full details. |
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Chianti formal gardens
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In English
Garden of the Villa di Geggiano
near
Sienna
Villa Poggio Torselli
near San Casciano Val di Pesa
Villa Cetinale
near Sienna
Villa Gamberaia
Settignano near Florence
Villa Vignamaggio
near
Greve in Chianti
Villa Medici
at
Fiesole, Italy
Castello
di Uzzano
at
Greve in
Chianti
Vincigliata Castle
near Fiesole
Villa Monaciano
near Castelnuovo Berardenga
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In italiano
Giardino della Villa di Geggiano
vicino Siena
Villa Poggio Torselli
vicino San Casciano Val di Pesa
Villa Cetinale
vicino Siena
Villa Gamberaia
Settignano vicino Firenze
Villa Vignamaggio
vicino Greve in Chianti
Villa Medici
a Fiesole
Castello di Uzzano
a Greve in Chianti
Castello di Vincigliata
vicino Fiesole
Villa Monaciano
vicino
Castelnuovo Berardenga
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Auf Deutsch
Villa di Geggiano - der Garten
nahe Siena
Villa Poggio Torselli
nahe San Casciano Val di Pesa
Villa Cetinale
nahe Siena
Villa Gamberaia
Settignano nahe Florenz
Villa Vignamaggio
nahe
Greve in Chianti
Castello di Uzzano
bei Greve in
Chianti
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Tuscan formal gardens
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Bardini Garden in Florence
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Il Giardino Bardini in Firenze
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Der Garten Bardini von Florenz
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Brolio Castle
near
Gaiole in Chianti
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Castello di Brolio
vicino Gaiole in
Chianti
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Schloss
Brolio
nahe Gaiole in Chianti
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Villa Chigi Saracini
near Castelnuovo Berardenga and Sienna
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Palazzo Piccolomini
in Pienza
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The prestigious Renaissance "lemon garden" begins with a magnificent gate and ends
at an exedra decorated with pillars at its corners and a large central rounded arch opening, framed by cypresses hedges. The upper part of the exedra is crowned by the family court of arms, surrounded by two vases.
More about Villa Chigi Saracini
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This is a small "hanging garden" which forms an integral part
of the Palazzo and indeed of the entire town of Pienza, a small renaissance jewel in central Tuscany.
More about the Palazzo Piccolomini in Pienza
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Roman formal gardens
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