La Foce - A Tuscan Garden With A Fascinating History

A 15th century pilgrim, walking along the Via Francigena on the way to Rome, might well have spent a night at hostel in the Val d’Orcia, just outside the current town of Chianciano Terme.  No doubt the accommodations, run by the Siena Hospital and Monastery of Santa Maria della Scala, would have been basic and the surrounding landscape the not-so-green clay hills found then in that part of Tuscany.  If that same pilgrim were to return today, he would not recognize the hostel, or the surrounding countryside, thanks in large part to the efforts of the Origo family.  While the intervening centuries saw the area impoverished and the hostel abandoned, in the 1920’s Antonio and Iris Origo bought the property, known as La Foce, and began its transformation. Today it is a remarkable spot - one of the finest estates and gardens in Tuscany.

The entry courtyard at La Foce, the meeting point for tours of the garden.

 Italian Antonio and wife Iris, a young American – Irish heiress, must have seemed crazy to their families and friends. The estate they purchased was run down, with rough dwellings and barren fields.   And yet, they had a vision.  Between 1924 and 1939 they restored the main building, turning it into their family home. They also reclaimed the land, developing it into fertile fields.  They built houses for tenant farmers, a school and a clinic for the workers and their families, and a dopolavoro (dopolavoro means “after work”, a place for the workers to socialize).  This level of social commitment and support for workers was unique at the time.  Eventually the estate grew to include farms, olive groves, and woodlands.  And then Iris Origo built a garden. 

 When I say garden I do not mean a small vegetable patch or a handful of flower beds.  To create her garden, Iris hired the English Architect Cecil Pinset to design an elegant space that blended Italian and English design and made the most of the views over the countryside.  100 years later the garden design is still perfect. 

Stone walls and a bit of fall color at La Foce

 The garden at La Foce blends formal green spaces defined by waist-high hedges, stone walls, flower beds, and a wooded hillside.  It includes an inviting series of terraces linked by stone stairways, a long arbor topped with wisteria, and beds of fragrant lavender.  Flowers spill from large stone urns and roses fill their very own garden bed.

A graceful double staircase leads down to the lower garden with its angular hedge-rimmed beds, reflecting pool, and elaborate stone statuary bench.  Cypress trees and classic Italian umbrella pines are visible at the garden edges and atop the hillside.   

 And the views!  Off in the distance is the famous winding road, lined with cypress trees, that appears in so many photos.  The garden is designed to present an unmatched view of this iconic Tuscan scene.

Our tour guide presented the history of both the land and the Origo family.

 The Origos lived at La Foce during the years of World War II.  That history is fascinating and well explained by the tour guides. 

Iris Origo was a biographer and historian.  Her WWII diary, War in Val d’Orcia, tells of life at La Foce and the precarious road she walked as a British – American living in Italy during that time.  Despite a need to remain in the good graces of the Italian and German forces, La Foce provided shelter to orphaned children and children sent from the heavily bombed city of Torino during the war years.  It also, at considerable personal risk, sheltered downed Allied pilots and POW escapees.  It was a dangerous time, and the diary is fascinating reading in preparation for a visit to La Foce.  

After the war, Iris and Antonio remained at La Foce for the rest of their lives, raising two daughters on the estate.  The daughters, Benedetta and Donata, now in their 80’s, still reside on the property. Antonio and Iris, along with their son Gianni who died in childhood, are buried on the estate.  Sustaining such a large property is no easy task and after Iris’s death in 1988 a good deal of the surrounding land was sold. The Origo daughters continued to own the heart of the estate and over time converted the main home and many surrounding buildings into event spaces and luxury accommodations for guests. 

One of the guest houses on La Foce Estate

The Dopolavoro is now a restaurant serving produce and olive oil from La Foce.  Each summer the estate hosts a music festival in honor of Iris, a project begun by her grandson. Every season brings a new reason to visit.

 La Foce is a must see for garden lovers and history buffs visiting the Val d’Orcia.  The gardens can be visited on guided tours Wednesday afternoons and Sundays from March 26  –  November 1. Note that there are some closures for special events and tours must be reserved in advance. The home and outbuildings are not open on the tours – a good reason to book a vacation stay.  That’s on my wish list as is a lunch at Dopolavoro (reservations are a must) and a return visit in summertime to see those wisteria in bloom. 

website:  www.lafoce.com

The website has fabulous photos and a portal to make reservations for garden tours.  It is also great for getting a peek at the vacation lodgings and event spaces.  For more information on Iris Origo and La Foce, I recommend War in Val d’Orica and Images and Shadows, an autobiography (the current edition has an afterword by her granddaughter Katia Lysy).

Blue Skies and a Perfect day in Sant’Andrea di Compito

The countryside around Lucca, Italy is dotted with beautiful villas and interesting small towns. One inviting place to visit is the medieval borgo (village) of Sant’Andrea di Compito which sits along a small stream and up a gentle hill, about 10 km (about 6 miles) outside of Lucca.

Sunny skies, the sound of water in the stream, and birds singing all contributed to a perfect March day in Sant’Andrea di Compito

Known as the Borgo delle Camelie, Sant’Andrea di Compito plays host each March to a festival showcasing an astounding collection of ancient camellia bushes, both the ornamental variety and the variety used for making tea. In fact, Italy’s only tea field (actually a walled garden, the Antico Chiusa Borrini) can be found here.

I visited Sant’Andrea during the annual Camellia Festival in 2018 and again in 2019 but had not returned since the lifting of pandemic restrictions. It was definitely past time for a return visit! So, along with a few friends, I set off for Sant’Andrea di Compito on a sunny spring-like morning. The village was just as charming as I remembered and the bright blue skies provided the perfect backdrop for wandering through the winding medieval streets.

Two previous blog posts tell the story of the Camellias (see links at bottom of page) so today I will use few words but lots of photos to describe this enchanting medieval village.

The streets of Sant’Andrea are lined with stone walls, rustic wood fences, lovely homes, historical towers, churches and, of course, flowers.

The walled garden of the Villa Borrini is an intimate, serene space. The Borrini family planted these Camellias nearly 200 years ago. Signage, in Italian and English, gives the name and description of each variety along with the date planted.

As if all of this floral beauty were not enough, near the entrance to town runs a small stream, crossed by a stone bridge, and tumbling down the hillside. Follow it along to the Camellietum Compitese - a virtual forest of Camellia trees. Somehow I had missed the Camellietum on my previous visits, so finding it on this visit was a delightful surprise.

The Camellietum is home to flowering Camellias in a spectrum of colors from the palest white to the deepest red and all shades in between. There are solid colors, variegated ones, even flowers that seem to have brushstrokes of color. The petal shapes vary as do the central colors and sizes. It was hard to choose a favorite, although I was most drawn to the endless shades of pink.

The large bushes meander along paths up the hillside and along the stream. There is even a market where the plants are sold (or, as their signage says, adopted).

The only problem - neither myself nor any of my friends have gardens here in Lucca, so our longing to buy some plants went unrealized. No matter, we enjoyed “shopping” for our favorite varieties and imagining that we might someday have a spot to plant them.

Gardeners and flower lovers flock to town during the Camellia Festival. For me the flowers are a bonus, a beautiful bonus, but the real star is the village itself.

For further information about the village of Sant’Andrea di Compito and the Camellia Festival:

https://www.twopartsitaly.com/blog/2018/3/25/santandrea-di-compito-borgo-delle-camelie and https://www.twopartsitaly.com/blog/2019/3/24/tea-and-camillias-in-tuscany

The Rasponi Gardens in Ravenna

With all of the important historic sights and stunning mosaics to see in Ravenna it is important to take some time out. A stop for a coffee or a leisurely lunch provides time to reflect and organize one’s impressions and memories. Even better is to stop by a pretty garden for a few moments of quiet between all the monuments. On a recent trip to Ravenna, two small gardens provided a much needed break in my sightseeing. Both were created by the Rasponi family, who were important economic and political forces in the years between the 1500’s and 1800’s.

Giardino delle Erbe Dimenticate (also called Giardino Rasponi), Ravenna

The first garden was a purely accidental find. While walking across town I spotted a sign for a botanic garden just off Piazza J.F. Kennedy and behind the Palazzo Rasponi dalle Teste. Inside was the sweetest small space called the Giardino delle Erbe Dimenticate (The Forgotten Herb Garden). Originally a walled garden for the oldest Rasponi palazzo in Ravenna, it was recently restored and now serves as a public space. It is not a big garden, just large enough to have a central fountain surrounded by flower and herb beds. Pomegranate and apple trees provide shade. Small tables are scattered throughout - perfect spots for a break from sightseeing or for a bit of lunch from the cafe at the front of the garden. These little almost-hidden spots are some of the most enchanting places to discover.

The second garden space was the Giardini Pensili (Hanging Gardens). The gardens, along with the Rasponi Crypt, are the oldest surviving parts of another Palazzo Rasponi, dating from the late 1700’s, most of which was destroyed by fire in the 1920’s. Today the gardens and crypt lie within the Palazzo della Provincia complex in Piazza San Francesco, not far from Dante’s tomb. The gardens are spread over several terraces which climb up around the central tower housing the crypt. The first garden is on the ground floor and set around a large 3-tiered central fountain. There are hedges and trees and a wonderful feeling of serenity here. From the entry garden, a path leads to the crypt.

The lowest level of the Giardini Pensili (Hanging Gardens)

The crypt most likely served as a small family chapel, it was never used as a burial space. It has wonderful curved brick walls with deep arches between several small rooms. The floors contain some ancient mosaics. Today small art pieces are on display.

Outside the crypt, a staircase leads to the next level of the gardens. Here is a wonderful, restful spot - a shaded arbor with views over the lower garden. What a cool and refreshing spot this must have provided the long ago Rasponi family. Or perhaps it was under this shade that Lord Byron sat with his lover, the Contessa Guiccioli, when he was in Ravenna. The arbor certainly has a romantic air about it.

The top level of the gardens shift the view from the interior of the complex to the outside world. The Basilica of San Francesco and its campanile (bell tower), along with distant views of rooftops and towers, can be seen from this open platform with its interesting ground cover of grass and white rock. There is also a great view of the merlons atop the tower which houses the crypt (the merlons are the M-shaped brick pillars at the very top of many towers and castles).

The climb down from the top gives a different perspective on the gardens and the tower housing the crypt.

Just outside the complex is a perfect place for another break - the Caffè Pasticceria Palumbo, set just under the portico in Piazza San Francesco.

A Historic Garden In Collodi, Italy

Collodi is a fairy tale place. It is not the Tuscany of rolling hills, carefully tended vines and olive trees that most people picture when they think of this region. Instead, the small village of Collodi seems to climb straight up a mountainside in the middle of a forest, hanging precariously on the slope. At the top is the medieval fortress La Rocca and a small church. At the bottom is the Villa Garzoni, built on the ruins of a Medieval Castle. An imposing structure, with its yellow color and 100 windows, the villa sits at the entrance to the town of Collodi. The villa itself is not open to the public, nor is the colorful Palazzina d’Estate (Summer Palace) which sits directly behind it. The only part of either that it is possible to enter is the Palazzina’s chapel, pictured below.

And then of course there is Pinocchio. Carlo Lorenzini, the author of Pinocchio, used the pen name Collodi as an homage to this village where his mother once worked. Many families come to Collodi to visit the Parco di Pinocchio (Pinocchio Park), a children’s adventure theme park based on the storybook character. But it was not the Pinocchio story that drew me to Collodi. Instead, I went with friends who were in Italy to visit classic gardens. The historic Giardino Garzoni, dating from the mid-1600’s and completed by the Lucchese architect Ottaviano Diodati in the 17th century, was on their “must see” list. I was delighted to join them for a day of visiting gardens near my home in Lucca.

Looking down on the lowest part of the garden, from an upper terrace

The Garzoni garden is a wonder, with something enchanting to see at every turn as it climbs the steep slope beside the villa. Like many Italian Renaissance gardens there is amazing architectural detail including a dramatic twin staircase (which contains a hidden grotto)

The twin staircases to the upper terraces

Water also plays a starring role in the garden, with a series of fountains and cascades of water tumbling down the slope. Tucked under the stairs is the Grotto of Neptune, another watery feature.

Two round pools lie at the bottom of the garden, just below a parterre full of greenery and flowers. Above that lies the staircase which begins the upward climb through several levels of terrace.

Keep climbing to the water stairs which flank the cascade that runs down to the lower garden. At the top of the climb lies a pool with a statue of Fame, who blows jets of water from a horn in dramatic fashion.

From the top of the water stairs lies a path, lined with camellias, which leads to the villa and the summer palace. This path too is lined with statues and interesting architectural details.

The fantastical nature of the garden reveals itself in places like in Neptune’s grotto, secret pathways and hidden spots, a labyrinth, and statues of mythical creatures and assorted ancient gods, goddesses, and legendary figures.

A visit to the gardens of Villa Garzoni provides a glimpse into leisure activities of a powerful family during the Renaissance. It is one of the finest examples of an Italian Renaissance garden and a lovely destination for anyone interested in classic gardens. A perfect way to spend a spring morning in the Tuscan countryside.

Lucca in Bloom

April was quite cool and rainy this year; it seemed that spring would never arrive. Perhaps that long wait for spring has made May, with its lengthening days and beautiful weather, even more welcome. Right now the temperatures are perfect - just warm enough mornings, sunny warm afternoons, perfectly comfortable evenings. There are soft breezes and plenty of opportunities to stop and enjoy the feel of the sun on one’s face. Cool weather clothes have been packed away (finally!) and the midday sun gives a hint of the hot summer weather that is just around the corner. This is the in-between season, and it is one of the best times of year to be in Tuscany.

These roses can be found in the large park just behind the Church of San Francesco.

The magnolia blooms are long gone, the wisteria have mostly faded, and there are no poppies inside the historic center of the city (though they are a marvel out in the countryside). But that does not mean there is a shortage of color in town because in May Lucca erupts in roses and they are glorious.

This multi-colored rose garden is up on the walls that surround the historic center of Lucca.

I wish I could add a link that would share scent, because the roses fill the air with a soft, delicate perfume. This seems especially true for the banks of pink roses just outside Porta San Pietro, the main entrance into the city. Visitors to Lucca often enter this porta on their way from the train station into the city. And what a good first impression this makes!

Fragrant pink roses at Porta San Pietro. And why is there always a truck that “photo bombs” a good picture?

It’s impossible to walk past without stopping to appreciate the various shades of pink, the wonderful scent, the buzzing bees.

Not to be outdone by the pink roses just outside Porta San Pietro, these red ones are just inside the porta.

One of my favorite rose-filled places is the rose garden in the series of three small gardens in the chiostro (cloister) beside the Church of San Francesco. With an old well in the middle of the garden, and banks of roses fanning out in all directions, this is a delightful and well tended formal garden.

What a joy it is to walk through Lucca on a warm spring day and find these beautiful blooms.

Street side roses on Corso Garibaldi