Presentation
Ten long years of hard-working dedication and creative input, in constant dialogue with nature and dreams, allowed Count Donato Sanminiatelli, his wife Maria Odescalchi and the great landscape architect Russell Page to realise a dream and let other garden-lovers participate. In spring 1964 Page set foot in San Liberato for the first time. He remarked: ''I know of no other place that emanates such magic'' and accepted the task of making a small, great paradise even more magic with humility and enthusiasm. It is a true botanical garden containing species from all over the world which share this special, spectacular space. Canadian maples, Japanese cherries, liquidambar and parrotias thrive alongside camphoras, liriodendrons and nyssas which seem to catch fire in autumn.
Part of the garden is dedicated to acidophilous plants; collections of camellias, rhododendrons, scented Choysia ternata and black
bamboos.
San Liberato is first of all a Romanesque church of poignant beauty,
immersed in a secular chestnut wood which merges into the park. It is also a rose garden or rather an infinite gallery of roses in thousands of colors interrupted by a small stone fountain, home to water-lilies and frogs. The church and its belfry from 1000, watched over by an ancient fig and cypress, is enhanced by a bird's eye view over the opaline waters of Lake Bracciano and the conical profile of Rocca Romana. This kingdom of minute details and vast expanses, of light and shade, this crescendo of flowers and plants, leads the visitor into a secret world where every anxiety vanishes.
