I think that La Foce, near Chianciano Terme in the Province of Siena must be one of the most beautiful gardens in the world and I make no apology for arranging regular trips to visit such an astonishing place.

The estate’s late-15th-century villa was once a place of rest on the pilgrim’s way but owing to the wild harshness of the surrounding landscape,  which can be seen behind the formal garden in the photo above, the farming community had practically all given up the uneven task of growing anything in such unforgiving soil. As a result many of the farms, and even the padrone’s villa, had fallen into disrepair.

It was no mean feat for author Iris Origo and her husband Marquese Antonio Origo to restore this extinct volcanic landscape to working farmland in the 1920s.

Although Iris’s family was wealthy and she was supported in her efforts by her paternal grandmother, the venture probably wouldn’t have succeeded without the support of Mussolini’s great “land improvement scheme” through which the Origos were able to improve the lot of the 24 peasant farmers working on their land before WW2.

Having spent all this money and created such a thriving haven of peace it is ironic that Iris Origo’s best known book is probably War in Val D’Orcia – in which she recounts her experiences and frequent privations on a regular basis in a diary which she had to keep well buried in her precious garden.

If the Germans had found her book and realised how much her sympathies lay with her Allied homelands – England and America – she would probably have been shot as a traitor.

After the second world war the ageing Garden Designer and Architect Cecil Pinsent returned to La Foce to help Iris Origo relay the formal gardens

and restore his masterpiece to life.

 We have another couple of days of garden visits planned for October – 6th October now full but please contact me if you are interested in joining our small group on October 16th.