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The history of Villa Comunale Garibaldi in Martina Franca, in the province of Taranto, began in 1861, when the Municipality made several offers to acquire the green area and the vegetable garden, following the suppression of some religious orders: in 1866, the Municipality of Martina Franca became the new owner and, having previously leased this land for agriculture, in 1871 it was given to expand the original noble residence.

The park of the Villa, which covers about 2.4 acres on a completely flat surface, has a rather regular layout and features the typical Italian garden style.

The construction of the green area, which lasted several years, was entrusted to expert gardeners from Lecce who eventually created a spectacular Italian garden thanks to several hedges and flower beds with assorted shapes and outstanding topiary skills; a small loggia – “Loggetta dell’Arte Topiaria” is probably the best examples of the latter pruning techniques, surrounded by stone benches, arch-shaped hedges, and stone columns with vases on their tops.

There are many plant species in the garden, as per its original project, while some of them identify many spots of the green area: for instance, the avenue of thujas (Thuja spp.), cedars (Cedrus spp.), and cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens), the portico of oaks (Quercus spp.), the flowerbed of Canary palms (Phoenix canariensi) or that of the Indian shots (Canna indica).

Other trees grow majestically, such as Mediterranean buckthorn (Rhamnus alaternus), Maidenhair trees (Ginkgo biloba), laurels (Laurus nobilis), yews (Taxus spp.), elms (Ulmus spp.), poplars (Populus spp.), magnolias (Magnolia sempervirens) , acacias (Acacia spp.), Judas-trees (Cercis siliquastrum), and also various shrub species, sometimes arranged in small hedges, curvilinear or multishaped flowerbeds bordered by low curbs.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)