I have always found excuses not to go back to the Cote d’Azur; the conspicuous show of wealth, the hordes wishing to associate themselves with celebrity glamour, the endless camper vans and caravans clogging up the mountain roads, and a … Continue reading
Category Archives: Italy
Painshill – ‘Whimsical Theatricality’
We English are so polite. Like most of my compatriots, if I visit a garden that I don’t like, I don’t write about it; but all that is about to change, no more Mr Nice Guy. I have resolved to … Continue reading
Sacro Bosco – The Park of Monsters
I knew little about this enigmatic garden before I went there, and without doubt, it is one of the most astonishing places I have ever seen. Being somewhat intellectually lazy, the temptation for me is not to try to understand … Continue reading
Villa Adriana – The Sad Ancestor of the European Garden
Italians just don’t get it. At the inappropriately named Villa Adriana (more the size of a city than a villa) the stifling bureaucracy of the Italian State manages, but not quite succeeds in strangling something that is hauntingly beautiful. Getting … Continue reading
Villa Aldobrandini – Water Theatre and Gentle Decay
The most remarkable thing about my hotel on the outskirts of Frascati was to see the walls lined with dozens of period garden engravings. Expecting Villa d’Este to have the greatest prominence, I was surprised to find it eclipsed by … Continue reading
Villa del Balbianello – Clipped to Perfection
I had always wanted to see the gardens of Lake Como and it came as a surprise, on a weekend trip to Milan, to find that I was only 35 minutes from Como by train. This proved to be an … Continue reading
Villa d’Este – A Gushing Gurgling, Crashing Murmuring Stupendous Work of Art
For too long I have been pussyfooting around avoiding the big beasts of the garden world. Time to man up, Richard. Villa d’Este is to my mind Italy’s finest, and one of the world’s greatest gardens, and words and pictures … Continue reading
Villa Lante – Vignola’s Perfect Concept and Italian Irritations
Villa Lante is one of the best-known Italian gardens, famed for its iconic ‘water-chain’ cascade, and the identical small stylish Palladian palazzine that sit to either side of the main axis of the garden. Of all the gardens around Rome … Continue reading