SIGURTA’ GARDEN PARK

In the much loved garden of Valeggio sul Mincio, the poet Ippolito Pindemonte composed an epigram that reads as follows:

“Sì Dilettosa Qui Scorre La Vita

Ch’io Qui scrupolo

Avrei Farmi Eremita”

The Sigurtà Garden Park, recognized as the second most beautiful park in Europe, thanks to the commitment, passion and endless care has become a priceless natural paradise, full of enchanting seasonal blooms and green meadows.

Flowers are the pride of the Park. Just think of the 30.000 roses located along Viale delle Rose, a kilometer of beauty in which to be enchanted by the scent of Queen Elizabeth roses or the wonderful irises, water lilies, lotus flowers, hydrangeas, peonies and many other seasonal blooms.

In the heart of the park, an expanse of green meadows infuses serenity and a pleasant feeling of well-being. The large turf contains the Flowering Ponds, dotted with water lilies and aquatic hibiscus.

The Aquatic gardens host the “Tulipanomania” event between March and April with flowerbeds overflowing with colorful tulips. With the record number of one million bulbs, it is considered the most important flowering in Europe.

The Big Oak Tree is fascinating for its elegance, the oldest plant in the park and, certainly, one of the most loved spots by visitors to the park.

The visit to the Park reserves many surprises such as the Labirinth, made with 1500 specimens of Badger (Taxus baccata) on a rectangular surface of 2500 square meters at the center of which stands the Tower or a visit to the Horizontal Meridiana which represents the “Sun source of life”.

Over the years the park has had an important didactic approach: many educational itineraries for children and teenagers and collaborations with various Venetian museums.

Inside the park, the Officinal Plants Garden allows you to get to know different essences with precious therapeutic properties.

 The Didactic Farm moreover, a recreational-educational area for children and families, adheres to the project for the Conservation and Enhancement of local Venetian poultry breeds, with the support of Veneto Agricoltura.  In the old farm you can see donkeys, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys and ducks.

Finally, the Valley of fallow Deer hosts splendid specimens of fallow deer living in freedom.  A rich calendar of events makes entry to the park a pleasant appointment that is repeated every year.  Parco Giardino Sigurtà, for a day of serenity!

BACKGROUND

The origins of the Sigurtà Park date back to 1417, the year in which the nobleman Gerolamo Contarini purchased the original farm. Inside the “Brolo cinto de Mura” there was a small geometric garden adjacent to the main house dedicated to the idleness of the nobles.

In 1436 the estate was bought by the Guarienti family, who maintained the property for 180 years. In this long period the area was divided into plots intended for cultivation, orchards, vegetable gardens and woods where hunting was practiced.

The 1616 marks the passage to the Maffei family who made important changes including the construction of a majestic residence, by the work of one of the most prestigious architects of the time Vincenzo Pellesina and the acquisition of the right to irrigate to draw water from the nearby river Mincio . The Marquis, an enlightened lover of beauty, art and gardens, was responsible for the transformation of the park into a romantic English garden with the combination of natural and artificial elements. The neo-Gothic temple (today called the Hermitage), the Castelletto and the Grotta were built, today points of great interest.

The estate subsequently passed to the Nuvoloni Counts who unfortunately marked the slow decline and division of the Park.

In 1859, during the battles of Solferino and San Martino, the emperors Francesco Giuseppe I of Austria and subsequently Napoleon III of France arrived at the park, but now the place was destined for ruin.

In 1941 the Sigurtà family purchased the park and the villa, in a state of evident degradation and abandonment and undertook the grandiose redevelopment work, bringing the garden back to its former glory. The arid hills returned to welcome the lush vegetation enhanced by centuries-old plants of majestic beauty and thousands of precious boxwoods.

Enjoy your visit to the park!