The Gardens of Ninfa is located about 40 km southeast of Rome. A brief history. The town of Ninfa, located along the Appian Way, was prosperous in the 1100's. In 1297, the town was purchased by the Caetani family and then in the late 1300's the brothers of the family went to war with each other, the town was ruined and eventually emptied of inhabitants. Those events are the genesis of what we see today, whcih is a bunch of ruined buildings that have been overgrown by nature, and with some planning in the past hundred years, and plantings or roses and different plants, there is now a 21 acre garden. But the most spectacular part for me was the amazingly clear river that runs through the grounds.
The gardens are open the once or twice a month April through October so getting in is an ordeal. I happen to see an advertisement in the newspaper for a day trip, so I called and DD and I were on our way. Alas, apparently the best time to go is in the late Spring when all the flowers are in bloom, but this beautiful clear crisp fall day was pretty good itself. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
The second part of the day, which after the gardens was total "gravy", was a visit to the nearby hilltown of Sermoneta, which was having its annual second Sunday in October celebration of the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. A resident of the town was a significant player in this Battle of Lepanto, but in my Wikipedia search on the Battle, I find no reference to the Duke who was so featured in the posters throughout town. That being said, there was a "renaissance festival" with displays of artisan crafts and skills, but most fun was the sword fighting demonstration.....and participation!
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| Sermoneta, Italy |
