Villa Torrigiani – a French garden near Lucca

10.10.11

Garden tours with Beyond the Yalla Dog led by Dr Katie Campbell

Villa Torrigiani

Another massive Torrigiani house and garden – this noble Tuscan family certainly have some impressive and elegant real estate to visit.

The plan of this garden was laid out in the 17th Century in the French style by previous owner Nicolo Santini who had been the Ambassador from Lucca to the court of Louis XIV.

The Torrigiani ownership came about as a result of the marriage of Vittoria Santini and the Marchese Pietro Guadagni Torrigiani in 1816.

The French influence was maintained with broad stretches of water and grassland both in front of, and behind, the villa.

Even at this relatively late time of year the gardens are still filled with coloured plants and flowers – especially the Baroque “Garden of Flora” shown below.

The garden also boasts a nymphaeum – a grotto sacred to water nymphs –  where complex hydraulics would have enabled the host to play tricks with water on his unwary guests – a cruel but frequent feature of gardens of the period being to unexpectedly drench guests with spurts of water – either from above or below – and get a good laugh at their expense!

Not all the water nymphs were particularly attractive either! Hades and Cerberus , featured above, don’t look the types you’d like to meet on a dark night and I dont think they would have looked much better even in their heyday!

The secret garden and stairway concealed the nymphaeum so guests only realised they were trapped in a gioca d’aqua when it was too late to escape.

The Villa and garden also features a 19th century wood, several elegant pools – including the fish pond shown below – and it’s own family chapel.

We had perfect weather for our trip ,  a great driver to get us to all our appointments on time,  and lots to see and study – I think we all enjoyed the day out – I certainly hope so!