The Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta on the road from Pienza to San Quirico d'Orcia

In 2001 I came to live in Italy. I had some fun, wrote a journal and this is the blog of my story...

"Tuscany is a state of grace. The countryside is so lovingly designed that the eye sweeps the mountains and valleys without stumbling over a single stone. The lilt of the rolling green hills, the upsurging cypresses, the terraces sculptured by generations that have handled the rocks with skillful tenderness, the fields geometrically juxtaposed as though drawn by a draughtsman for beauty as well as productivity; the battlements of castles on the hills, their tall towers standing grey-blue and golden tan among the forest of trees, the air of such clarity that every sod of earth stands out in such dazzling detail. The fields ripening with barley and oats, beans and beets. The grape-heavy vines espaliered between the horizontal branches of silver-green olive trees, composing orchards of webbed design, rich in intimation of wine, olive oil and lacy-leaf poetry. Tuscany untied the knots in a man's intestines, wiped out the ills of the world. Italy is the garden of Europe, Tuscany is the garden of Italy, Florence is the flower of Tuscany." Irving Stone from my favourite book " The Agony and the Ecstacy" A fictional biography of Michelangelo



168. Villa di Castello

Our second medici villa in as many weeks! It's another sunny Sunday afternoonand this one is a fifteen minute drive away in a hilly area called Castello, near Sesto Fiorentino, to the north west of Florence. It's full title is 'Parco di Villa Reale di Castello, but it is known as 'Villa di Castello'. The villa is closed, but it's the garden that we've really come to see and enjoy.



The villa was the country residence of Duke Cosimo de Medici from 1519 - 1574 and at one time housed Botticelli's world famous 'Birth of Venus'. The gardens filled with statues, fountains and a grotto were also famous at the time all throughout Europe and had a profound influence on the design of other Renaissance gardens and later, French formal gardens.



We have a nice wander through the perfectly kept gardens and a laze on our trusty rug. I've brought my pad and while away a few hours sketching. As well as the gardens there is a wonderful grotto with some exotic animal carvings and a bronze statue, the fountain of Appenino, by Bartolomeo Ammannati. It is supposed to represent the mountain source of the rivers in Florence and is called
'The first of January'... and it does look as if it's shivering! There is another impressive fountain too, in bronze depicting Hercules and Anteus. It recalls the story from Greek mythology and here represents Florentine Duke Cosimo defeating Florence's enemies by using intelligence over brute force... although it helps when you're Hercules, the world's strongest man!




We enjoy a very relaxing afternoon, only beaten, or rather 'bitten' at dusk by some pesky mosquitos who are still clinging on to the remnants of summer.
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