Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 055 22 45 27; www.giardinotorrigiani.it ; Via de' Serragli 144; 1½-hour guided tours by donation;
by advance reservation via email) Astonishing. Behind the unassuming facades of Via de' Ser-
ragli lies a vast, secret garden - Europe's largest privately owned green space within an
historic centre, owned by the Torrigiani Malaspina and Torrigiani di Santa Cristina famil-
ies. Well-kept and loved, it's possible to visit this leafy retreat in the engaging company of
the charismatic Marquis Vanni Torrigiani Malaspina and his wife Susanna.
Tours (in English or Italian) are intimate and proffer a rare glimpse into a very different
and privileged Florentine world.
Designed at the height of the Romantic movement in the early 19th century, the idyllic
oasis of green wrapped around the original 16th-century villa and subsequent early 19th-
century house includes rare tree species, wide English-style lawns, herb and vegetables
gardens, sculpted lions, a beautifully restored greenhouse, and remains of city walls built
under Cosimo I in 1544 (one of six sets of walls to be built around Florence at different
times - spot the segment of older, 14th century walls outside the garden).
The garden design is laden with complex Masonic symbology, climaxing with an eleg-
ant neo-Gothic tower spiralling to the heavens; the three levels allude to the three stages
of the initiation process from the profane world to the initiation of Freemasonry.
In the recently restored greenhouse and Italian garden known collectively as La Serra
Torrigiani Vanni, the marquis Vanni and Susanna run horticultural, gardening and painting
courses and workshops. In the future they hope to build a trio of treehouses for guests to
sleep B&B style.
GARDEN STROLL
An easy footpath leads from Giardino di Boboli to Giardino Bardini; the gate between the two - a
mere five-minute walk - shuts at 5pm.
Casa Guidi
MAP
MUSEUM
GOOGLE MAP
( www.browningsociety.org ; Piazza San Felice 8; 3-6pm Mon, Wed & Fri Apr-Nov) It was on
the ground floor of 15th-century Palazzo Guidi, across from Palazzo Pitti, that Robert and
Elizabeth Browning rented an apartment in 1847, a year after their marriage. Robert wrote
Men and Women in the apartment they called home for 14 years and poetess Elizabeth
both gave birth to their only child here and died here.
 
 
 
 
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