European and Japanese Gardens 
Pitti Palace, jjust without the Porta Romana; a garden of vast 
dimensions, with less of architectural interest than most large 
palace or villia gardens, but possessing many features of great 
beauty. At Poggio a Cajano is a villa dating from the early 
sixteenth cenitury, with a fine old park. A little further from 
Florence is tlhe Villa Medicea in Careggi, once the property of 
the Dukes of Tuscany, and dating from 1460, but (I believe) 
without important gardens. Still further to the northwest is 
the Villa Pet:raia, and west of it the Villa Castello, both now 
belonging to the crown, and having very elaborate and beau¬ 
tiful gardens;, which are well worthy of a visit. Another Me- 
dicean villa mear by, the Quarto, with a fine garden, belongs to 
the Stroganoff family. One or two other villas are to be seen 
on the way t(0 Fiesole. The fine Villa Poggio Imperiale, dat¬ 
ing from 162:2, is now a girls’ school and not open to the pub¬ 
lic. At Gemoa are no villas of the first importance, nor do I 
know of examples elsewhere in Italy comparable with those 
hitherto menitioned, either in historic or artistic interest, except 
the Caserta p^alace gardens already mentioned. 
There aire, however, both in Northern Italy, especially 
near Genoa and about Lake Como, and in Southern Italy in 
the vicinity cof Naples, many villas of the second rank, some 
of quite modern date, others dating from the sixteenth and 
seventeenth centuries. These, in their measure, embody the 
same principles and possess a like charm with those of which 
I have given some account in and near Rome. The difference 
is in degree irather than in kind. 
I have (discussed only the Italian villa, because it is the 
most monurmental and characteristic form of the Italian gar¬ 
den. There ;are thousands of public and private parks and gar¬ 
dens which, owing to different controlling conditions and to the 
influence of English and French models, depart radically from 
the formal viilla-type. Long, narrow stretches along the river¬ 
side or lakesiide, small areas surrounding railway stations, open 
squares in thie cities, demand a different handling from that I 
have described. In these we meet with both good and bad 
examples, buit most of them are delightful, if for no other rea¬ 
son, because of the brilliance of the grass and of the flowers 
and foliage plants, and because of the lovely atmosphere and 
surrounding's of the scene. Everywhere is water—in jets or 
cascades, and always with architectural accompaniments and 
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