Historical fascination
The Garden
The Pojega estate in Negrar di Valpolicella has been owned by the Rizzardi counts since 1649.
Commissioned in 1783 by Count Antonio Rizzardi and entrusted to the architect Luigi Trezza, the Pojega Garden represents the last wonderful example of an Italian garden.
The garden
The temples and famous Greek-inspired green theatre, the galleries and labyrinthine paths shaped by hornbeam, boxwood, cypress, and the lush nature of the forest come together in a multitude of perspectives that make the Pojega Garden spectacular.
Luigi Trezza distinguished himself by encapsulating the classical principles of Italian gardens with the incarnation of the ‘picturesque’ taste of the nascent Romanticism, giving life to a work that perfectly embodies the harmony between nature and art.
THE FOUR ORIGINAL PANELS OF THE PROJECT, STORED TODAY IN THE CIVIC LIBRARY OF VERONA, PROVIDE A SPECIAL LOOK AT THE ORIGINAL DRAWINGS OF THE GARDEN: THE BELVEDERE, TEMPLE, GREEN THEATRE, AND POND.
There are four main paths that wander through this marvellous garden: Day Lane, on the hornbeam avenue, Night Lane, on the forest path, Knowledge Lane on the cypress avenue (which connects the formal garden to the theatre), and Virtue Lane, on the belvedere avenue.
The Pojega Garden is therefore not just a monument to beautiful landscaping, but also a tangible expression of the taste and cultural aspirations of its creators, a place where history, art, and nature blend harmoniously, creating a unique, unforgettable experience for anyone who comes to visit.
Map
The map shows how the garden, which covers 54,000 m2, is organized along various paths.
The belvedere is situated at the end of the cypress avenue. Then there is the temple in the forest. Finally, the green theatre and pond connect the two ends of the central avenue. The hornbeam avenue constitutes the lower path.
When the villa was restored, a small bridge was installed, opening a connection with the family’s private garden, or secret garden, which does not appear in the original layout, but rather dates to the late 1800s. This small Italian garden with flowerbeds and parterre, is marked by a nymphaeum.
At the centre of the forest lies the circular temple with its walls plastered in stalactites. Four classical divinities are situated in four niches within the temple.
The forest embodies the informal English garden: wild, uncontaminated, and irregular. Scattered among the bushes are statues of wild beasts whose purpose is to frighten visitors.
The belvedere is the highest point in the garden. It consists of an octagonal tower surrounded by a staircase that starts from a single ramp and divides into two, wrapping around the sides.
At the crossroads of the two cypress avenues lies the entrance to the green theatre, formed out of boxwood, cypress, and hornbeam hedges, with two statues representing the muses of theatre, Melpomene and Thalia.
The avenue consists of an arcade of black and white hornbeam, whose shadowy canopies are pruned at the centre to light the underlying carpet of grass at midday. As in an architectural construction, the space is clearly outlined with a boxwood hedge.
An oval pond surrounds the sculptural composition depicting Water, personified by a girl holding an amphora. Below her, a dolphin calls to mind the sea and the two putti convey the principle of love.
The villa, built between 1868 and 1870 by the architect Filippo Messedaglia, has an eclectic style blending Baroque, Renaissance, and Neoclassical elements.
On the eastern side of the villa, a small bridge connected to the piano nobile gives access to a small terraced secret garden organized along classical canons.
