the exedra | the maze | the coffee house | the orangery | the small wood

The Garden covers a whole bend of the Brenta river, an area of 11 hectares and a perimeter of about 1500 metres. It was planned by the Paduan architect Girolamo Frigimelica de' Roberti and laid out when the villa was not yet built. The architect is the author of the famous maze and of some original lodges as the exedra, with two wisteria-covered passageways at the sides, the turret at the centre of the maze and the stables in the background of the large inner parterre.
In the eighteenth century the breathtaking sight was embellished with embroideries with huge statues at the sides. The garden is arranged with long perspectives following the French model used by Andrè Le Nôtre at Versailles and the traditional fenced garden of Veneto, open through portals and windows which extend the sight on the Brenta river.
The elegant eighteenth century Coffee House, rounded by a ring of water, lies on a small artificial hill, used to keep ice during hot season. During Napoleon's power, a small wood was added westward and ornamental kitchen-gardens were changed into orangery.
The feature of the Austrian nineteenth century is the great care for potted and outdoor plants using greenhouses and big trees, before the twentieth century revival brought in long box hedges and the large basin of the parterre. In 1839 the second ice-box was built, west of the stables, among the trees of the small wood. An artificial hill was built in the east area in 1853, following the unsuccessful attempt to emperor Francis Joseph's life by a Hungarian nationalist, as says the inscription on the commemorative obelisk.
The garden was fully refurbished and nowadays, together with the general design, offers a rich botanical collection all year long.