Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Villas & Gardens
First they fixed the drawing room and then they started on the garden: Italy's pen-
chant for the 'outdoor room' has been going strong since wealthy Romans realised the
benefits of regular rest and relaxation, and situated their holiday villas beside the
tranquil northern lakes. Medieval humanists revived their interest in botany and
pharmacology, and Renaissance princes used never-before-seen engineering tech-
niques to mould Italian landscapes into dramatic and dynamic statements of wealth
and power.
Classical poet Ovid records the myth that explains the association of the cypress with grief. The hand-
some boy Cyparissus, a favourite of Apollo, accidentally kills a beloved tame stag. He is so distraught that
he asked to weep forever in punishment and so he is transformed into
cupressus sempervirens,
whose sap eternally
weeps his tears.
