The Tulipanomania, the floral event that is repeated every Spring at the Sigurtà Garden Park and now also in Bardolino and Villafranca, began in 2016.

Following the competition “The most beautiful flowering in Italy”, among over a thousand parks and gardens, the “Tulipanomania” of the Sigurtà Garden Park was voted, which won the nomination, thanks to the enchanting varieties of Tulips, Daffodils, Hyacinths, Muscari , Allium, Fritillarie, Anemoni, Chionodoxa, to the design of the flower beds and the amazing number of bulbs, one million tulips from Holland and Turkey, with over 300 varieties.

Since then, the beauty of the tulips, absolute protagonists of the event, enchants visitors and the magic is repeated every year.

But where did Tulipanomania begin?

Background    

In 1743, in his book “Travels through Holland”, Monsieur de Blainville wrote:

“They were possessed by this furious passion for those flowers or, to call it by its name, by this itchy desire that they often offered three thousand crowns for a tulip that would satisfy their fantasies: a Virus that ruined many rich families”.

But the story of the tulip has previous origins. It was the Turks who popularized this flower that came from the East, from the immense lands of Central Asia.

The Tulip owes its name to a Turkish word meaning turban, due to the shape of the corolla with spectacular colors and infinite varieties.

It was imported from Turkey into Europe in the mid-1500s.

During the 1600s, the tulip became the most cultivated flower in the Netherlands where the expert flower growers obtained, thanks to various crossings, varieties that differ in shape and colors.  The Tulip played a central role in the history and economy of Holland.

It began to be a flower very present in Baroque paintings and this accentuated its fame. In a short time it became a symbol of wealth in Europe and the nobles challenged each other to have the most beautiful and rarest tulip: a real luxury item.

 Tulipanomania was born!

A flower that made an entire generation of people lose their reason!

Acclaimed as the new King of the garden, he took over from the Rose, the undisputed Queen until then. The real fashion of the time!

Connoisseurs and fans of flowers belonging to the wealthier classes, but also florists and traders of the less affluent classes began to participate in transactions on tulip bulbs.

Everyone was fascinated by the mirage of earnings and the prospect of accumulating money.

In the mid 1600’s a real specialized stock exchange was established in Amsterdam where it was possible to bet on the colors of the new bulbs by losing or earning large amounts of money.

That of tulips is defined by many as the first true speculative bubble in the history of capitalism. The bulbs took on amazing prices.

Prices had gone so high that tulip fever suddenly turned to terror and in 1637 the price collapsed suddenly, causing what went down in history as the first major speculative crisis of capitalism.

Thus ended tulipanomania and collective madness vanished and with it the triumphal years of this flower ended.

The beauty of the Tulip however continued to enchant and the interest in this flower always remained alive.

This passion continues even today!

Let’s get infected by the Flowers!

An appointment to mark on the agenda for each Spring

Have a nice trip!