Our itinerary for the Lazio region couldn’t help but be full of History, Art and Natural beauty. Through the centuries, the Popes and wealthy families of the area in and around Rome have built Villas and gardens as symbols of their wealth and power. The best Architects and Landscape designers were called to the Region to create the most splendid works of art.
The first garden on your itinerary is not a grand Villa but a private garden created in the 1950’s by the Landscape Architect Russell Page. This garden has been, through the years, added to by the owner who is herself a keen gardener. From here you will visit an eight hectare landscape style garden restored and improved on through the years by many generations of the same family. One of the largest works of garden restoration in Italy. In Italy you will visit the spectacular University owned Botanical Gardens. Moving back out into the countryside, you will see the spectacular gardens of Villa d’Este with their impressive concentration of fountains, nymphaeums, grottos, jeux d’eau and water music. The imposing buildings and terraces over terraces are reminiscent of the Hanging Gardens of Babylonia. In the Bracciano area, you will visit a castle garden built on an ancient Etruscan site filled with hundreds of different rose varieties. You will then stop at another garden designed by Russell Page. He worked for 10 years along with the owner of the property to create these impressive gardens filled with a gallery of roses, decorating the pathways and structures all around the garden. Your next visit is to a Castel built in the 16th century and still owned by the original family. Their personal dedication to the maintenance of the gardens means that it is one of the best preserved of its kind. Near Viterbo you will see an internationally recognized Paeony garden. You will also visit two magnificent Villas whose gardens were designed by the architect Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola, a master at creating grand gardens filled with statues and fantastic water features. Testaments to the wealthy and powerful families who commissioned them.