History
Created at the end of the 1400s, the garden now has the structure conceived in 1570 by Agostino Giusti, knight of the Venetian Republic and gentleman-in-waiting of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
It was designed as a backdrop to the Giusti Palace using the terraced land to reveal the city a little at a time, following a prescribed path.
Facing the sixteenth century atrium, a famous avenue of cypresses climbs up to a grotto of stalactites, surmounted by an enormous grotesque mask built to allow tongues of fire to issue from its mouth. There is an enchanting view over Verona from the belvedere which crowns the mask.
Apart from the collections of flowers and important Roman remains, the garden conserves all the original sixteenth century structures intact: fountains, acoustic grottoes, pergolas, Italian style clipped box, mythological statues and a small complicated maze, one of the oldest in Europe.
Visited and celebrated through the centuries by illustrious personalities from history and culture (including Cosimo De' Medici, De Brosses, Addison, Emperor Joseph II, Goethe, Mozart, Carlo Felice of Savoy, Suares and Gabriel Faure), this garden, together with the adjoining sixteenth century palace, is an urban complex of great interest and beauty.
