BOBOLI GARDENS: The Florentine Versailles

Hotel Mario's suggests a further visit: Boboli Gardens. They were not famous until the land became the property of the Medici family, who called in Niccolò Pericoli, known as Tribolo, to design them; this artist created a masterpiece of "landscape architecture" between 1550 and 1558. Parks in Florence: BoboliThe park, on the property of the Pitti Palace, was planned to occupy a scenographic setting on the slopes of the Boboli hill (covering 320.000 square metres) and also had access from the square. The park was enriched with many Mannerist inventions by Buontalenti (like the Grotta Grande), fountains and statues by Ammannati, Giambologna and Tacca, and was eventually completed by Giulio and Alfonso Parigi (1631- 1656). The two architects, father and son, carried out the stone Amphitheatre, the unique setting for many celebrated theatrical performances, the cypress alley known as the "Viottolone" and the square and pool of Isolotto. The last additions, like the Coffeehouse (1774-76), the Lawn of the Columns (1776) and the Lemonary (1785), were later installed by the Lorriane family. Pietro Leopoldo decided to open the garden to the public in 1776. The design of the Boboli Gardens was used as a basis for all the royal gardens in Europe, including Versailles.