Hanbury botanical gardens |
|
Collection title
Grazie dei Fiori
First broadcast date
06/30/2010
Abstract
Visit of the Hanbury Gardens located near the sea at Ventimiglia on the Ligurian coast. Founded in 1867 by Thomas Hanbury, a wealthy Englishman .
These exotic gardens had been developed by several gardeners including Ludwig Winter.
Mauro Mariotti, from the University of Genoa, presents the botanic gardens and provides explanations of the wide variety of exotic plants there .
Broadcaster
RAI - RAI Due
Audiovisual form
Documentary
Secondary themes
- Landscapes and environment / Protection of Natural environments
Map locations
- Italy - Western North - Ventimiglia
Original language
Italian
Context
The Hanbury botanical garden
Martine Chalvet
This news report made by RAI in 2010, shows the great botanical variety in a garden at Mortola near Ventimiglia.created in the 19th century by the Englishman Thomas Hanbury.
Having made a fortune in spices, tea and silk, Thomas Hanbury was seduced by the landscapes and the gentle climate of the Ligurian coast. Like many of his wealthy compatriots, he searched for a home far from the rigours of the English winter. In 1867, coming back from China, he acquired a 17th century house on the Cape of Mortola, near Ventimiglia, perched on a bluff over-looking the Mediterranean with 18 hectares of sloping land covered by olive trees, orange trees and myrtles. In the middle of the property he restored the former Orengo palace and on the advice of his brother Daniel decided to create a garden. He relied on the help of well-known German botanists such as Ludovic Winter, Gustav Cronemayer, Kurt Dinter and Alwin Berger. On the death of Thomas Hanbury the work was continued by his son Cecil and his daughter-n-law, Lady Dorothy Symons. In 1960, lacking the necessary, Lady Dorothy sold the property to the Italian state at the same time guaranteeing it could not be sold on. The garden today is part of the Grandi Giardini Italiani and since 2000 has been classified as "a protected regional area".
With its particularly favourable climate, the property at Mortola has become not only a garden of Mediterranean plants but it has also acclimatized many species from the world over. Today there are 4,000 different varieties. A lecturer of Genoa university and the current head of the garden, Mauro Mariotti talks about the most important collections: the desert succulents, particularly the cacti and euphorbia, the Mexican garden with its aloes, agaves and yuccas, the Australian forest with its Eucalyptus and mimosas, the collection of roses – cultivated roses, old roses and tea roses. One could add the Bamboo forest, a garden of citrus fruit, a collection of begonias, a palm grove – and then of course the Mediterranean plants in great number in the upper part of the garden notably the lilacs, bourganvilleas, lavanders, jasmines and laurels. As well as the plants, Hanbury also has items of from different cultures around the world. The Italian palace with its fountains next to a Japanese bell, the mausolea containing the ashes of Lady Dorothy (the small temple of the Four Seasons) and Thomas Hanbury and his wife (Moorish Mausoleum).
Opened to the public by Lady Dorothy Symons, the botanic park of Mortola offers its magnificent landscape, its gardens and its palace to the eyes of more than 50,000 visitors a year. Beyond just its tourist qualities, the garden has a true scientific interest. In the 1980's the entire property was given to the Botanical Institute of the University of Genoa, now responsible for the upkeep of the garden and its buildings. The university also organises international conferences, for with its plants from across the globe the garden represents a very important study centre for students and botanists.
Bibliography:
- Mosser M., Teyssot G., Histoire des jardins de la Renaissance à nos jours, Paris, Flammarion, rééd 2002, 600 p.
- Wade J., Grandi Giardini Italiani, Rizzoli, 2002, 224 p.
- Wharton, E., Villas et jardins d'Italie, Tallendier, réed 2009, 154 p.
- Grandi Giardini Italiani, Guida 2012, ed. Grandi Giardini Italiani, mars 2012, 208 p.
