Before Canberra bursts into spring, I have a couple of posts to show of our trip to Italy in May……so welcome to Villa Giulia, the first public park in Palermo, opened in 1778.
On a warm morning, after a long walk through the city, we decided to stroll around this inviting shady park rather than go to the Botanical Gardens, right next door. Botanical gardens need stamina, and more time than we had that day.
Sicily was first settled by the Phoenicans in the 8th century, then conquered by the Romans, the Arabs and the Normans. The buildings and gardens reflect this rich history.
The wide avenues and tall palms made this park seem cool, inviting and exotic, full of flowers and shrubs reminiscent of my childhood in Central Africa, where the climate is equally hot in summer.
I loved the Lantana Cultivar, the blaze of orange flowers making a a colourful hedge. Some red Hibiscus flowers are growing between the palms, and in the background the seemingly ever flowering purple Bougainvillea.
Parks in the 1700s were considered a reflection of the city’s wealth and prosperity, and were designed by artists, architects, scholars and dreamers of a golden age.
These are exedra, and they were intended for musical performances. The colours and the mosiacs have no doubt been restored, but it still withstands the test of time, and looks wonderful.
The site is near the seafront and the park is based on a square, geometrically designed. The Dodecahedron fountain is at the heart of the garden, and the marble clock created by mathematician Lorenzo Federici – each face of the dodecahedron featuring a sundial.
The statue of Atlas is set in the centre of a circular fountain. Atlas was the god of endurance and astronomy.
Imagine an astronomer and a mathematican being consulted on the design of a park today!
Over time some of the plants have been renewed and the trees lining this path below look quite young and healthy. They are known as Judas trees, and can also be found in the National Arboretum in Canberra. The name possibly came from the French common name, Arbre de Judee, meaning the tree of Judea, the region where the tree is commonly grown, on stony arid slopes.
The flat ripening pods turn from green to bright red, giving extra colour to the park.
On the left hand-side of this path is the Italian pine (pino domestic) which is very common in Palermo and gives welcome shade in the summer.
Villa Giulia is an oasis in the teeming city of Palermo, and a lasting legacy to the enlightened times of its Golden Age.
…and, as we leave, another tree to remind me of Africa and Australia…
Who could resist stopping to take a photo of a flowering Jacaranda tree?
Copyright Geraldine Mackey. All rights reserved
Hmmm – interesting to see lantana in a botanical garden. Noxious weed where I live!
Same in Canberra, but it looks quite good contained in a garden bed like that doesn’t it? …will do a post on FNQ in a couple of weeks, hope you won’t be too busy by that time!
Lovely garden and many plants we don’t normally see up here. I am also always in awe of such meticulously maintained shrubs. I’m sure it’s nice to wander through your photos as you await spring. 🙂
Yes, the daffodils are out now so things are looking up! Nice to re-visit Italy while we wait..
It is refreshing to walk thru green parks when the city bakes in summer heat.
I have photos to sort from our 3 weeks in Europe.
I look forward to seeing some of your European holiday photos…
Really lovely gardens, Gerrie. I enjoyed the tour and the info, especially the beautiful fountain. So nice to see a Jacaranda in flower again. 🙂
Thanks Sylvia…yes the Jacaranda was flowering everywhere in Palermo…such a pretty blossom.
What a stunning park! I just loved those tall palm trees and the architecture! How I would have enjoyed a few hours there. That Jacaranda tree is the icing on the cake, I bought seeds once, they never germinated.xxx
Yes, I’d love to have a Jacaranda tree, but it doesn’t like the cold.
Beautiful gardens, Gerrie. An comforting to find familiar plants and trees that remind us of home.
Yes, it is so true that plants can remind us of home and also childhood. There must be a post in that idea!
Geraldine, what a lovely post! Were you an educator in your past life? Your descriptions are worthy of a tour guide…Thanks for expanding my garden world. Diane
Thanks Diane, the more I read about the garden, the more interesting it became! Glad to have an audience for it. And yes, I am a teacher!
What a wonderful garden! Love the statuary and the jacaranda.
The attention to details like statues in bygone days really amazed us. Glad you liked it.