Italian Gardens: A Guide

For more than 500 years the gardens of Italy have attracted visitors from all over the world. Many of the greatest artists and architects of the Renaissance were employed in their design and ornamentation. Italian Gardens is a practical and beautifully illustrated guide to more than 60 of the finest examples, from the seventeenth-century gardens of Castello d'Aglie in Piedmont to the thirteenth-century Moorish garden of the Villa Rufolo in Campania. As well as well-known gardens (for example, the Boboli gardens, Florence, Villa d'Este outside Rome), the book takes visitors away from the well-trodden tourist paths to a private world of beauty and, often, eccentricity. Both practical and up to date, the guide provides histories and descriptions, as well as detailed information on locations, facilities, opening times, and accessibility.