The Garden of delights
Once upon a time, in a land not far from Rome, is a garden of infinite beauty. The gardens of Ninfa, an ancient settlement. Its name derives from the ancient Greek and roman culture, the Nympheaum, a temple dedicated to Nymphs, specifically the Nymphs which ruled over Spring. The ruins of a Nympheaum dedicated to water nymphs or fairies (the Naiad nymphs), are placed on an island of the pond in the gardens. This estate is an inspiration to many artists and writers over the centuries. Thanks to it’s indescribable beauty.
Ninfa was a small village, 20 acres approximately, in the middle of the Rome’s Countryside, on the Appian Way. Coronation place of Pope Alexander III in 1159. And it was a quite promising, flourishing community until the middle ages. A tranquil community, until In 1171 the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick the 1st, the Pope’s Arch rival, sacked it and burned it to the ground.
The village was in the hands of several noblemen, through time, that would repurpose its grounds. When it hosted a hundred houses, a castle, a few churches, hospice, town hall, castle and boundary walls and guard towers. The 16th century is when the village was beginning to regain its inhabitants. But Ninfa’s fate was slowly but relentlessly signed, when malaria presented its self in the 17th century that caused to leave this beautiful place deserted and abandoned.
But its in the 18th century that her glory was redeemed when it was transformed in a gorgeous English garden.
Ninfa’s Gardens, hosts over ten thousand species of rare plants and blooming trees from all over the world. Perfectly coexisting with Medieval ruins of some establishment from the early ages scattered across the property.
Streams of crystal clear water slide across the land, creating a natural calming sound effect as one gently walks from one quarter of the garden to the next.
There are over 2000 plant species from all over the world here. With a rich variety of exotic plants and trees, meadows, oaks, cypresses, poplars and more, wild roses, ivy, waterlilies, bamboos. Every inch of this magical land covered with Natural beauty and grace, creating a colorful, romantic effect.
A paradise that’s able to inspire the most artistic and dreamy side of anyone who visits them. Virginia Woolf, Truman Capote, Ungaretti, and Moravia, found inspiration for their creations. And it lays there, completely undisturbed, at the feet of the Lepini Mountains. A sleeping beauty in the winter time, until a glorious spring wakes Ninfa and fills her with light and colors and life.
This is your chance to have a private limo tour that can be arranged in a very special way: With a personal guide that would escort you, during closing hours, so that you can stroll through the sections, and have the gardens all to yourself!
I dare you to find something more magical, than a private tour of Ninfa Gardens.