Torrigiani Garden

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Make an Appointment with the Owners for a Guided Tour.

Deep in the heart of Florence, hidden behind walls, the Torrigiani Gardens, measuring 7 hectares (over 17 acres) is the biggest private garden in Europe. Already famous in the 16th century as a botanical garden, the Torrigiani Gardens had a revival during the beginning of the 19th century when the Marchese Pietro Torrigiani expanded the property, buying all the surrounding land and transforming it into a romantic English garden according to the prevailing style of the times.

Except for the pre-exiting Medicean walls, the entire garden creates a suggestive atmosphere to guide the visitor through a special romantic-sentimental journey. Even the natural elements have been designed to follow this emotional development, from the brooding «sacred grove» that hides inside the burial ground, a symbol of the precariousness of life on earth, to the extensive open spaces surrounding the Temple of Arcadia, representing pastoral life.

Through small alleys and over small hills and lawns, where in the 19th century in was possible to see wild deer, it is possible to discover grand architectural structures including the Gymnasium, Hermitage and Aviaries as well as the bed of the Ladone stream with its evocative bridge.

Of the sculptures still present today, there are: a statue of Osiris holding the tablets on which the rules of conduct to be observed during the visit of the park are written; a baroque piece by Baratta representing Actaeon fleeing after seeing Diana’s face, a marble group of with a picture of a bull taken down by a lion, statues of Janus and Aesculapius, classical statues by Pio Fedi representing the young Pietro Torrigiani with Seneca, and a marble column dedicated to the great botanist and mycologist Pier Antonio Micheli, who worked assiduously in this garden, and who with other leading naturalists, founded the Italian Botanical Society in 1716.

In addition to its architectural value, the garden is renowned as a botanical garden, extraordinarily rich in trees and plants coming from different parts of the world. There are numerous greenhouses, both old and new, as well as tepidariums and orangeries where there are courses offered in gardening, horticulture and botanical painting.

Strolling in the shade of many trees, you can find three varieties of cedar: Cedrus Libani, Atlantic and Deodar, the rare three colored Fagus, remarkable Sequoia, Ginkgo Biloba, English Oak, many different pines, several exceptionally tall cypress and forests of Holm Oak.

The care and maintenance of such large and exceptional historical, artistic and botanical heritage is still today carried out by the Torrigiani Malaspina family and the Torrigiani of Santa Cristina.

Contact:
tel: +39 055/224527
fax: +39 055/229662
mail: info@giardinotorrigiani.it

Eto soobshcheniye takzhe dostupna v: Английский Итальянский Французский Испанский Немецкий Португальский, Португалия