The Most Beatiful Garden in Italy 2010

10 unique castles and parks have been chosen as finalists for this years contest to find The Most Beatiful Garden in Italy 2010, which has been a tradition for the last 7 years.

Among the finalists we find 2 castles in Piedmont, previously owned by the Savoy-family but now on the list of World Heritage by UNESCO. The first castle is Venaria Reale in Turin and has for the last 10 years been undergoing a massiv restoration and in 2007 the castle was opened to the public in all its splendor.

When you see the castle, it makes you think of Versailles in France with its impressive structure, art and architecture, an amazing garden that is being rebuild in its original Baroque style.

The castle Racconigi in Cuneo is surrounded by a romantic atmosphere and a place where the royal family could spend the summer, enjoying themselfes and walking in the park filled with woods, meadows, small cottages, ponds and animals. The park is now used for many different cultural events.

In Liguria, you will find the Garden of Villa Durazzo Pallavicini, for a nice walk in the romantic park and villa that used to belong to a noble family from Genova.

Next is the Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo, with a remarkeable view of the lake Como and the mountains. The park is famous for its beautifull rhododendrons and azeleas, that can be found in 150 different varieties in the 70.000 square metre garden. Also flowers as camellias, ancient trees and ancient plants can be seen in the park. In 1801 the famous italian politician and businessman Gian Battista Sommariva bought the villa, he was very fond of art and the villa housed important works of Canova, Thorvaldsen and Hayez.

Also in Lombardia is Villa Cargnacco - Il Vittoriale degli Italiani, overlooking lake Garda and almost like a small village with buildings, streets, squares, parks and garden. It was build by the italian poet and politician Gabriele d'Annunzio, and it took him 17 years(1921-1938) to build this complex, that today consists of an auditorium, mausoleum, priory, theatre, war museum, gardens and parks.

In the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia is the castle of Miramare, and you can find the ocean just in front of the castle. It was build by Ferdinand Maximilian of Hapsburg as a residens for him and his family. Surrounding the castle is a park of 22 hectars of land, and consists of a true romantic English landscape with lawns, idyllic paths, trees, small ponds and flowerbeds.

In Tuscany is the garden that used to belong to the Villa Medici di Castello, close to Florence. The garden and the several terraces are designed on a central axis, in the back of the garden is a cave, in celebrating of the owner - Duke Cosimo I's(Grand Duke of the Medici-family) love for hunting. In fact, the garden was never fully finished, but drawings exists that shows the original design of the garden as it should have been.

The castle of Ruspoli Vignanello is situated in Viterbo, in the region of Lazio and has an impressive vegetable garden with many different herbs, which is the most well preserved vegetable garden in Italy. For several years the castle was used as a convent for the Benedictine monks, and later was given by the Pope to Beatrice Farnese Baglioni.

Another park in Lazio is the Garden of the Latin Nymph (Giardino di Ninfa a Latina) and is designed in romantic English style in a more naturally style.

The last castle and garden is in Sicily, the Garden of Kolymbetra in the Park of the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. The park extends over 1300 hectares and contains exceptional monumental and landscape heritage, which includes the ruins of an ancient city.
The Park of the Valley of the Temples is situated in the rural countryside on a plateau overlooking the valley and river, and is surrounded by olive- and almondgroves.

You can find information on the 10 castles and parks here:

VENARIA REALE (Piedmont)
www.lavenaria.it

CASTELLO DI RACCONIGI (Piedmont)
www.ilcastellodiracconigi.it

VILLA DURAZZO PALLAVICINI (Liguria)
www.villapallavicini.info

VILLA CARLOTTA (Lombardy)
www.villacarlotta.it

VITTORALE DEGLI ITALIANI (Lombardy)
www.vittoriale.it

CASTELLO DI MIRAMARE (Friuli Venezia Giulia)
www.castello-miramare.it

VILLA MEDICEA DI CASTELLO (Tuscany)
www.polomuseale.firenze.it

CASTELLO RUSPOLI DI VIGNANELLO (Lazio)
www.castelloruspoli.com

GIARDINO DI NINFA (Lazio)
www.fondazionecaetani.org

GIARDINO DELLA KOLYMBETRA (Sicily)
www.parcovalledeitempli.it