VATICAN AND VILLA LANTE
 

Hello

Thanks for helping with our hotel. We will be in Rome on Oct. 24, Fri. and wondering how long you would approx. be standing in line just to see the Sisteen Chapel?

Has anyone been to Villa Lante, and Parco dei Mostri, north of Rome and if worth it? Thanks so much, Joan

I was at Villa Lante and Bomarzo (also known as Parco dei Mostri or Sacro Bosco) in May. Both are wonderful visits, well worth the time for a look at perhaps the most perfect Renaissance garden in Italy (Lante) and a most amazing Mannerist garden (Bomarzo). Here are some photos:

http://gardentouring.fotopic.net/c1527506.html

In the same area are Villa Farnese at Caprarola, also a classic of garden design, and Castello Ruspoli at Vignanello, the most perfectly surviving Italian parterre.

Just a couple of hours away, toward the sea, near Garavicchio, which is near Capalbio, is French artist Niki de Saint Phalle's Tarot Garden, an amazing place, a modern take on a Mannerist garden, reminiscent of Bomarzo.

Photos from all of these are on my website.

Hello

Thanks so much and looked at your pictures, they are really good. Villa Lante looks really nice, not many people around. Thanks again, Joan

Check out the itineraries pages on www.elegantetruria.com for info about the Viterbo area where the wonderful gardens you want to see are located: Villa Lante, Castello Ruspoli (open only on Sundays by appt. with the Ruspoli princesses ( I have the email and phone no. if you cant find them), Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola.
The connections between these sites and the Vatican's geographic halls and Sistine chapel are amazing.

Just a correction about opening hours for Castello Ruspoli in Vignanello. The garden is open Sundays 1030-1330 and 1500-1800. During these hours no appointments are needed. The garden is also open other days by appointment. Here's a photo of the Renaissance parterre: http://www.gardentouring.fotopic.net/p52976274.html and another of the giardino segreto: http://www.gardentouring.fotopic.net/p52976311.html The garden is sublimely beautiful and well worth a visit. Parts of the castello can also be visited, for an additional entrance fee.