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Villa I Tatti, now home to The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, is a historic residence with an Italian garden, linked to the memory of the art historian and collector of antiquities Bernard Berenson.
Erected during the Renaissance period, the villa passed into the hands of several noble families from Florence, including that of the Alessandri, until 1854 when it was eventually bought by John Temple Leader; finally, it became a property of Bernard Berenson in1906.
The latter transformed it into a prestigious cultural meeting centre where the most important artists and intellectuals of the Anglo-Saxon community in Florence and the leading scholars of the Italian city used to gather.

The Italian garden is placed longitudinally along the main perspective axis, it can be accessed via an avenue of cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens), and includes the panoramic terrace, the lemon grove with flower beds edged with box hedges (Buxus sempervirens), and some terraced lawns. The central avenue is paved with mosaics, decorated with boxwood obelisks, and flanked by geometric flower beds.
Two statues at the bottom of the garden mark the small staircase that leads to the holm oak grove (Quercus ilex). On the back of the villa, there is also a hanging garden featuring flower beds bordered by pruned box hedges. Tree-lined avenues lead from the formal garden to the open countryside, harmoniously blending these two environments.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)