Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Boboli Gardens
7
The Boboli Gardens were laid out for the Medici in 1550,
one year after they bought the Palazzo Pitti. A perfect
example of stylized Renaissance gardening, they were
opened to the public in 1766. The more formal parts of
the garden, nearest the palazzo, consist of box hedges
clipped into symmetrical geometric patterns. These lead
to wild groves of ilex and cypress trees, planted to create
a contrast between artifice and
nature. Statues of varying styles
and periods are dotted around,
and the vistas were planned
to give views over Florence.
.
Amphitheatre
Stone for the Palazzo
Pitti was quarried here
and the hollow was turned
into a stage for the first-
ever opera performances.
Kaffeehaus
The Rococo-style pavilion, built in
1774, now houses a coffee house.
It is open during the summer and
offers beautiful views over the city.
Forte di
Belvedere
Ganymede Fountain
Entrance to palazzo
and gardens
Galleria del
Costume
The Neptune
Fountain
was built
between 1565-8
by Stoldo Lorenzi.
.
La Grotta Grande
The casts of Michelangelo's
Quattro
Prigioni
(see p94)
are built into
the walls of this Mannerist folly
(1583-93), which also houses
Vincenzo de' Rossi's
Paris with
Helen of Troy
(1560) and
Venus
Bathing
(1565) by Giambologna.
Bacchus Fountain
(1560)
A copy of the original by
Valerio Cioli, the statue
shows Pietro Barbino,
Cosimo I's court dwarf, as
Bacchus, the Roman god
of wine, astride a turtle.
