This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

The palace of the duke and duchess Guevara di Bovino, better known as Villa Porfidia (name of the present owners), it is located at the borders of the village of Recale. It was built at the end of the 18^th century by the Guevara family, which was close to the royal Bourbon family, in order to live closer to the Neapolitan court in the times when it lived in the Royal Palace of Caserta (only 4 km away). The villa, which includes the already existing watchtower, presents a compact implant developed around the interior courtyard. The severe architecture of the building contrasts with the 2 hectares wide hanging garden built in 1781 by the will of Annamaria Suardo Guevara, lady-in-waiting of the queen Maria Carolina.
The garden develops itself inside the ancient corral, built before the 1780, and it includes a secular beech tree wood, dedicated to hunting. Interesting marble statues and some fountains, which reproduce the ones of Caserta’s Royal Palace, are united with the botanical rarities popular at the time which create spectacular natural landscapes. It is divided into two parts one in an Italian style garden while the other is an English style one.

THE GARDENS
The Italian style garden has an access on the paved court of the palace and it is composed of a central alley bordered by lines of Agapantus, walls covered by roses, lemons and secular yews (Taxus baccata) with a cylindrical shape. It is closed by a neoclassic pavilion, ornated with eighteenth-century frescos, which is reflected in a romantic basin where beautiful waterlilies bloom. The lateral paths dividing the space in regular areas bordered by box hedges are connected orthogonally to the main alley. The parallel boulevard of sunshades (l75 metres long) is an example of the style of eighteenth-century Italian gardens; there are benches in lava stone with backrests and armrests made of Buxux sempervirens, the design of each bench is completed by 2.5 metres high box shrubs with the shape of a sunshade. Specimens of Cinnamomun camphora, Magnolia grandiflora and numerous camelia species are present in this part of the garden. The British romantic taste is reflected in the garden by the plantation of giant camphor trees, Liriodendron tulipifera in the middle of the regular Italian style squares. They must be allowed to grow spontaneously without pruning them. A rare variety of violet camelia (Camellia japonica var. Atroviolacea) is still present in the garden and, according to tradition, it was planted by Lady Emma Hamilton, the most famous guest of this garden.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)