umenitsa - Patrasso - Grimaldi Group

marenostrum
Y ou leave the hustle and bustle of Rome
behind you when you cross Piazza di
Santa Marta and enter the lush Vatican Gardens;
here it’s as if time stands still. There
are no seasons here, no seasonal hues
tingeing the vegetation. Because this is Eden.
Or the nearest thing to it. Different popes
have overseen its construction over the
centuries, plot after plot, commissioning the
finest landscape architects, artists, botanists
and gardeners. More than anywhere else
on Earth, this place – located in the heart of
Christianity – aspires to let you feel God’s
presence.
23 hectares of unspoilt nature, for centuries
the exclusive privilege of the pontiffs,
this living work of art, an ever-changing
tableau showcasing the wonders of the
natural world and those created by human
intervention, is a treasure trove of magic
and mystery with its hedges, age-old trees,
grottoes, fountains, groves and rose gardens,
300 plant species and 5,600 plants from all
over the world, hills, hoopoes, parrots and
hummingbirds, frogs, hedgehogs, squirrels,
foxes and cats. In short, your senses are
overwhelmed here.
I don’t know whether it’s the most beautiful
place on Earth. But it certainly fills you with
inner peace and a sense of security. Here
the pervading feeling is that of absolute
majesty. And you feel compelled to remain
silent when you are shaded by the ancient
pine trees at the Casina, or summer residence,
of Pope Pius IV (1555-1559), now the
location of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
In this pastoral setting you are spoilt
for choice amidst Renaissance landscaping
and statues until the blue-grey dome of St
Peter’s suddenly looms into view with a
force that it seem as if you can reach out
and touch it. There can be no better landmark.
And it is easier to retrace the history
of the initial tangle of vegetation, which gave
rise on the slopes to the first fruit trees
(pomerium), the original manicured lawns
and gardens (viridarium) and the botanical
gardens where the medieval physicians cultivated
medicinal herbs.
In the Belvedere courtyard, which is no
longer standing but which lives on in the
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