The Historical Garden and the Monumental Park

A precious testimony of the "civilization of the villa", an ideal environment in which the Venetian nobles loved to spend their holidays...

... between sheets of water and blossoming spaces where you can escape from the mercantile heart of the frenetic city.

The first documents on Villa Widmann date back to 1720 and speak of a real garden created by Diodato Seriman who enriched it with a front courtyard and a garden with a vegetable garden at the back.

In 1615 the Serenissima architect Vincenzo Scamozzi wrote: "The larger the gardens, the more spacious they are, the more honor they give to the house".

But it was only towards the end of the 19th century that Elisabetta Widmann-Rezzonico transformed the old "brolo" into a large "park with a naturalistic character".

Here the noble family found a quiet and secluded refuge in the sultry season...

In the open air they dabbled in sumptuous parties and mischievous games, in cheerful or learned "conversations"...

Magnificent places of leisure and social life, made up of banquets and pleasant conversations immersed in the scent of flowers and in the shade of trees, play an important role in 18th century life.

In green spaces, it was fashionable to incorporate architectural elements such as decorated vases, flowered arches, statues, fake ruins, fountains, iceboxes and aviaries with colourful exotic birds.

The exotic plants imported from other continents, such as palms, bananas, magnolias, hydrangeas and wisteria, were the most fascinating and astonishing things for guests.

A splendid Japanese banana, which according to popular legends brings a good dose of luck, extends into the garden near one of the entrances.

Two majestic Magnolias grandiflora, with over three hundred years of history, frame the facades of the Villa highlighting its candid architectural elegance.

Today as yesterday, a flower stands out above all in the park ... The rose, royal symbol of the secret gardens of Venice, which has maintained its primacy even on the mainland.

A rose called the Dogaressa welcomes visitors in Villa Widmann. Inspired by ancient roses, it was created by two nurserymen and Giulio Pantoli, a well-known and award-winning hybridizer of roses from Romagna.

... a flower with a particular lilac color, an unusual richness of petals and an intense perfume that makes it immediately recognizable.

Two nineteenth century hornbeam galleries enclose the clearing that leads to the monumental park on parallel sides.

Here we find the great Gingko Biloba, a real living fossil, the only tree that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs, which fills the space in front of the ancient greenhouses.

The garden of Villa Widmann surprises and excites, and it is sweet to get lost among the silent presences reminiscent of the world of classicism: they are statues of gods, nymphs, cupids and garden gnomes.

In soft stone, Jupiter, Apollo, Apollo, Triton, Venus and many other gods inhabit this majestic monumental space.

Close to the Park, arranged in the flowerbed around the fountain, Minerva, Bacchus, Ceres, Viturnus, Saturn and Mercury celebrate subjects dear to the Venetian nobility: agriculture, crafts and trade.

But among the strongest presences, there is that of the cherubs, depicted playing musical instruments or with weapons and shields, almost as if to protect the villa.

Mysterious presences inhabit the Park: two series of garden gnomes, with thick beards and a hooked nose, each one performing a different action, seem to tell a story...

Venus, goddess of beauty and love, depicted by a young girl with her feet resting on a shell and her long hair loose on her shoulders, awaits us at the end of the Park.

Crowning this magical place is a romantic little lake created at the end of the nineteenth century, where numerous marshy cypresses literally rise from the water creating a suggestive scenic effect.

A belvedere where you can spend pleasant moments of conviviality closes the walk: it is an elegant gazebo with pillars and columns, enriched by a wrought iron roof.

In its 16,000 square metres of greenery, Villa Widmann invites today's holidaymakers... to find the testimonies of that time and immerse themselves in the tranquillity of a truly unique natural environment.

Monument of art and nature with light and shadow effects, the complex seems to be created to convey emotions in intimate places among trees, flowers, gods, water lilies and cupids... not to be missed.