The general layout
The Layout
The site plan unfolds with a carefully designed geometric and symmetrical layout, echoing the harmony and balance of the great tradition of Italian gardens.
Access Avenue
After passing the small village of Terraja, a gate marks the beginning of the property and leads into the access avenue. Along the initial stretch of the avenue there were two rows of box hedges, as well as oaks and holm oaks—now centuries old—strawberry trees accompanied by elms, and some “exotic trees,” following a typical arrangement of formal approach routes. After proceeding along the initial 225 metres of the avenue, one reaches an open space from which two lateral paths branch off, encircling the hill. The avenue, in its entirety, measures 370 metres in length.
This open space can be identified as the so-called Cypress Square (Piazzetta dei Cipressi), a name recorded in the 1884 estimate by engineer Guj. Originally, this area had a circular layout and functioned as a key distribution node within the estate: here converged the routes leading, respectively, to the left—along a wider curve—toward the nearby farmhouse (former oil mill), continuing to the south-west; straight ahead toward the main villa (casino); and to the right—along a tighter curve—past the orchard (fruit garden), toward the stable and the kitchens.
The space was articulated by the presence of cypress trees and masonry pillars, shaped according to the curvilinear course of the paths and arranged so as to guide their convergence into the square. The ground of the Cypress Square was maintained as lawn.
Historical graphic documentation, together with evidence from recent archaeological investigations, has made it possible to reconstruct the original layout of the space, characterized by semicircular walls with pillars, on which stone vases containing Agave americana—a characteristic feature of Valadier’s gardens—were placed, as well as rows of cypresses, now reinstated with specimens of Cupressus sempervirens, selected in a variety resistant to corineum disease, in continuity with the historical layout.
Following the central path and passing through the second entrance gate, two brick walls can be observed on either side, constructed with alternating courses laid both flat and on edge (longitudinally). These structures serve a retaining function, containing the soil and forming level terraces along the access route to the main villa.
The wall on the left side was restored during works carried out in the 1960s; the wall on the right, by contrast, has not undergone any consolidation in recent decades and still shows evident cracks in the brick masonry.
The straight axial path, which runs through the most important parts of the Park, continues uphill toward the elliptical forecourt of the main façade of the villa. As one proceeds along this axis, the space gradually opens up into broader areas that once accommodated architectural features, busts, statues, and ornamental plantings, contributing to the creation of a scenographic landscape.
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Access Avenue
The backdrop of Monumental Cypress
Once flanked by Roman statues, the majestic centuries-old cypress trees frame the arrival at the top of the hill, creating a transitional backdrop leading to the open space of the central esplanade. Here, two lateral paths wind through the property, following the natural contours of the terrain, while the central axis continues toward the first geometric forecourt, onto which open two large wrought-iron pavilions of Oriental-inspired design, originally intended as rose gardens.
These centuries-old trees, which reach heights of over 20 metres and whose trunk circumferences in some cases measure between 328 and 400 cm, majestically define the geometric symmetry of the entire layout of the park.
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The backdrop of Monumental Cypresses
The Cocchi Avenue
Across the entire park, ancient boxwood hedges trace sinuous paths, following the natural irregularities of the terrain—as advocated in the finest theories of English naturalism. The “Countess’s walks” still linger in memory. The hedges—trained as espaliers—were composed primarily of boxwood, but in several areas also of elder, cherry laurel, and strawberry trees, for a total length of 1,416 meters. These shaded routes, known as cocchi, are winding, hedge-lined avenues that form the green backbone of the park and create a network of connections throughout the entire estate. In the past, they were covered by barrel-vaulted structures made of chestnut or iron frameworks, supported by vertical posts that shaped the interwoven branches of manna ash trees planted along the sides of the paths, upon which fine varieties of vines were cultivated. Even today, some of these centuries-old manna ash trees can still be encountered, once forming the shaded arcades.
This productive character reflected an ancient vocation of the Italian garden, renewed during the Enlightenment, which celebrated the concept of the garden as a “botany of the palate”—a place of beauty as well as utility. The presence of such agricultural functions supports a broader interpretation of the estate, linking it to the debate that developed in 18th-century England on the nature of the garden, which led to the definition of the term ferme ornée, literally “ornamental farm.” This expression referred to landscapes in which aesthetic aims coexisted with productive activities. The concept of the ornamental farm also represents one of the final expressions of the broader cultural phenomenon of pastoralism, which for centuries shaped ideas of country living, as well as painting, literature, and theatre, inspiring villa owners to conceive the entire landscape as both an ideal and productive environment.
Archival documents further reveal that the various paths, pergolas, or cocchi, as they were known, bore distinct identifying names: those of St. Lucia, the farmhouse of Leandro, the “Baracca di Muro,” the path encircling the church and the villa (casino), and the two “great” ones located in the large rectangular forecourt in front of the villa.
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Cocchi by the North Belvedere
Belvederi
From the Exedra Square one reaches two magnificent belvederes: to the south, an extraordinary view opens over the city of Spoleto; to the north, the gaze stretches across the valley toward Assisi and Montefalco. Originally, two additional belvederes existed—eastward toward Trevi and Campello, and westward toward the Martani Mountains—though today they have almost completely disappeared.
The Sitter's place
Still standing, though weathered by time and wrapped in nature’s embrace, the “Nicchia del Seditore” lies hidden in a secluded corner of the park’s western side, where the sun sets.
Encircled by a protective wall and completed by a long stone seat, it was conceived as a small, silent refuge where one could stop and contemplate the fading light of day.
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The Sitter’s Place