Botanist and gardening enthusiast Lucio Viatori transformed a stony, dry terrain, into a garden home to a microcosm of finely selected hydrangeas, azaleas, and rhododendrons.
Inspired by late 19th-century landscape gardens, from 1975 until his death in 2014, Professor Lucio Viatori devoted himself to the transformation of a piece of land in the Piuma area, on the outskirts of Gorizia. Crossed by the Groina stream and located halfway up a hill, Viatori purchased this land to create a park on multiple levels to accommodate the great variety of rhododendrons and azaleas he had acquired over the years from nurseries all over Europe. On the most elevated part of the property, Viatori erected a modest dwelling affording an ideal view of the nearby tree grove. However, the amenity of the entire complex cannot be appreciated from a single vantage point, since the park unfolds in a series of climbing and descending paths disclosing countless surprising views with a variety of landscape settings and floral arrangements.
Highlights
The water-lily pond
This pond is set in a depression in the ground brought about by a bomb dropped during World War I that was violently fought on the Isonzo Front. On its surface float several species of aquatic flowers reflecting the owner’s love of Impressionism. Several varieties of irises grow on its shores.
The shady little valley
At the back of the house, sheltered by an acacia grove, a pathway winds its way through a lush hydrangea garden. The park however is most famous for its azalea collection counting several hundred varieties all flowering in spring.
Flowering
In spring the selection of deciduous-leaf magnolias, the only one in Italy, gives rise to a unique landscape; while in summer rhododendrons, roses (both antique and modern, bushy and climbing), shrubs and flowering trees are in full bloom.