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The centuries-old park of Castel Giuliano was built on the estate of Palazzo Patrizi, an Etruscan and Roman settlement on the slopes of the Tolfa mountains, owned by the Patrizi family since the sixteenth century. Thanks to long and painstaking restorations, the park, the castle, and the family church have come back to life after centuries of neglect.

THE GARDEN

The garden built next to the forest, on some 12 acres, extends with gentle slopes and terraced areas around the “hortus conclusus”, full of vegetables and many varieties of flowers. It features lush vegetation, with aromatic herbs, and flowering shrubs that grow at the base of Italian stone pines (Pinus pinea), oaks, cedars of Lebanon (Cedrus libani), magnolias and maples.

Roses are the true protagonists of the garden. After all, they were a passion of the marquise who turned Castel Giuliano into one of the best Italian rose gardens. Hundreds of ancient roses climb the old walls, while many other roses form borders and hedges. There are also specimens of digitalis purpurea (Digitalis spp.), myrtles (Myrtus spp.), Lavenders (Lavandula spp.), and buckbrushes (Ceanothus spp.).
Every year, in May, a “Rose Festival” is organized in the ancient village of the estate, celebrating rare plants from the most prestigious nurseries of Italy.

The garden can be divided into different areas: the lawn of Paradise, with roses from the 1930s, the golden pheasant meadow, which includes a collection of English and digitalis roses, the caves, with acanthus (Acanthus spp.), aquatic plants and climbing roses, the old stables, with the lotus flower basin and lilies (Lilium spp.), Japanese water iris (Iris ensata) and calla lilies. Last but not least, there’s the butterfly well, where Mediterranean herbs grow.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)