Old Gardens of Italy 39 



VILLA DONA DALLE ROSE, 

 VALSANZIBIO. 



TWENTY minutes' drive from Battaglia, which is 

 half an hour by train from Padua. The property 

 of Count Dona dalle Rose, who most kindly admits 

 visitors at any time to his garden, which is one of 

 the most beautiful and interesting in Italy. It was 

 constructed in the sixteenth century for the Mar- 

 tinengo family. 



The whole planning of this garden, though quite 

 in conformity with the style of the period, is in one 

 way unlike any other that I know. Driving towards 

 the tiny village that here, as everywhere else in 

 Italy, nestles up close to the residence of the chief 

 magnate of the place, one is struck by a fine old 

 stone archway, pierced by an iron grille, whose 

 purpose is to give a view from the outside up the 

 beautiful water scheme, and, from the inside, to 

 form a suitable termination to it. Owing to the 

 fact that the garden fills up the narrow valley and 

 that the house, in order to enjoy a sunny aspect has 

 to face across, instead of up or down it, the usual 

 planning of a chateau d'eau down the hill-side was 

 abandoned, and the water was conducted down the 

 very centre of the valley in a series of broad pools. 

 This involved a cross scheme, so from the centre of 

 the villa starts a broad clipped walk transverse to 

 the water, and in the middle stands a fountain 

 forming the true centre of the design. From here 

 one looks up towards a steep viale of cypress on the 



