Garden and Loggia of the Oranges
The Giardino degli Aranci assumed its current size and characteristics under Alfonso I and evokes
powerfully the presence of the court, standing here unseen by the people, amid the perfume of the
orange blossoms, admiring the city. The wall of the hanging garden was constructed following the
plans of Girolamo da Carpi in the second half of the sixteenth century. Archive documents are rich in
observations about the hanging gardens and these have allowed the reconstruction of their various arrangements:
from little paths among large flowerbeds (whose soil had been carried up here) of annual
plants, to the 18th Century arrangement, which featured only citrus plants, in pots that were sheltered
in the winter in a Loggia used as a greenhouse.
last modified
Aug 30, 2012 10:35
