POGGIO CAJANO, GASTELLO AND PETRAJA, FLORENCE. 
283 
the Arno, Petraja being 
higher up than Castello, 
having no less than four 
hundred and fifteen feet 
of elevation as against 
the one hundred and fiftv 
feet at Poggio Cajano. 
It is as well, therefore, 
to visit Castello first, and, 
ascending the grounds at 
the back of that house, 
to make your way up- 
wards to Petraja. Of the 
two, Castello is rather 
the palace and Petraja 
the villa, each appealing 
accordingly to a dilTerent 
class of visitor. 
The approach to 
Castello is very attractive. 
Turning in from the 
dusty high road, there 
is an avenue leading to a 
round point, from which 
a pleached alley at right 
angles leads into an 
oblong forecourt. The 
house faces a semicircle, 
sixty yards across, with 
balustrading and statues 
that connect forecourt 
and avenue. On the 
right is the long, low 
lemonaia, and on the left 
a delightful formal gar- 
den. This is enclosed 
by a wall and laid out 
in three repeats of a 
parterre pattern of flower- 
b e d s enclosed i n a 
clipped edging of dwarf 
box. 'Phe end of the 
house, which has a re- 
cessed central loggia in 
two storeys, looks out 
upon this garden. The 
house is planned round a 
central cortile. It is not 
very interesting inside, 
but some Empire furni- 
ture and a great wine jar 
of green glazed earthen- 
ware dated 1531 may be 
noted. Behind the house 
295.— THE WALL DECORATIONS OF THE SALON OF THE 
VILLA PETRAJA. 
