Historical garden of Villa Barbarigo Pizzoni Ardemani
Via G. Barbarigo,15 - loc. Valsanzibio, Galzignano Terme (PD)
The Valley of St. Eusebio - which took its name from the monastery on the hill of Orbieso - and the surrounding hills were a property of the Scrovegni family, then of the Contarinis and, from the end of the 16th to the 18th century, of the Barbarigo family. The Venetian aristocrat Antonio Barbarigo, a brother of St. Gregorio, created Villa Barbarigo’s historical garden in the second half of the 17th century. This is certainly one of the most important Italian gardens ever, both for its size (about 150,000 sqm, with over eight hundred trees and 126 tree species) and its architecture.
It has a symmetrical plan, designed along two cardinal axes; from Bagno di Diana, the ancient entrance, the garden features four ponds, sixteen fountains, seventy statues and three water tricks. Famous features include the ancient boxwood maze, which is over 1,500 linear metres long, as well as a valuable heritage of mythological and allegorical statues, water tricks and architectural decorations.
Villa Barbarigo Pizzoni Ardemani
(photo by: Archivio Parco dei Colli Euganei)