Historic Gardens

Villa Lante: Touring Italian Gardens

Villa Lante Stone Table [Photo © Alice Joyce]

The elements of a Renaissance garden come together in a poetic harmony at Villa Lante, northeast of Rome in the village of Bagnaia. Often quoted author of Italian Villas and Their Gardens, the novelist Edith Wharton found the setting to be a magical place when she visited in 1903. The survival of these gardens is commendable, as so many of the period have now vanished. Attributed to the great Mannerist architect, Vignola, Villa Lante began as the dream of Cardinal Gambara in the 16th century. The conversion of a hunting preserve became the glorious landscaped grounds we see today. Cardinal Peretti-Montalto tales credit for the creation of the central Fountain of the Moors.

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