Rome: City of Gardens

Rome is – and always has been – a city of gardens. Since ancient times, the Italian city’s green hills, from the imperial Palatine to the rural Janiculum, have been covered with ornamental gardens, orchards, and groves.

Rome: City of Gardens invites readers to explore three 'golden ages' of Roman horticulture through twenty-three intriguing outdoor spaces. Featured are the romantic ruins and sculpture of Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli; the splendid water theater of the Villa d’Este; the lush terraces of the Villa Lante; and the Belvedere Courtyard and Casina of Pius IV within the Vatican. More contemporary designs include Palazzo Parisi, the family estate of Arabella Lennox-Boyd; La Torrecchia Vecchia, a green-and-white garden by Dan Pearson that winds around the ruins of a medieval town; and the reimagining of the Bass Garden and the Villa Aurelia by Laurie Olin, at the American Academy in Rome.