4-2 Old Gardens of Italy 



Frigmelica. Bought by Napoleon I. for Eugene 

 Beauharnais, Viceroy of Italy. Now a national 

 monument. Permission to visit it may be obtained 

 at the Ducal Palace, Venice. It is on the line of the 

 steam tram that runs along by the Brenta canal 

 from Padua to Fusina. Thus it can be visited 

 either from Padua or from Venice, whence a steamer 

 runs to Fusina in connection with the steam tram. 



Very little trace of the once extensive formal 

 garden remains. There is still a maze and a terrace 

 bordering a lemon garden and various summer- 

 houses, but of the great parterre seen in Costa's 

 etching no vestige survives. The stable is pro- 

 bably the most magnificent in the world, a veritable 

 palace with collonade in front, and within are rows 

 of stalls, each being decorated by a marble horse on 

 a column, every one differing from its neighbours. 



The most distinctive examples of garden archi- 

 tecture at Stra are the Clairvoyees and gates. The 

 former are a very French feature, and these windows 

 in the wall, with their beautiful gratings of wrought 

 iron, serve to give life and variety to the grounds 

 within, and are usually placed at the culminating 

 point of a long alley. There are some magnificent 

 gates, too, at Stra, particularly that which faces 

 what was once the water entrance. It has two tall 

 columns, one on either side, with a winding iron 

 staircase round each and a terrace above. It is said 

 that Cardinal de Rohan had a drawing made of this 

 gateway in order that he might have a similar one 

 built at Saverne. 



