GIARDINO AND PALAZZO GIUSTI IN VERONA
Progetto
Restoration of the monumental complex
Luogo
Verona (VR)
Date
2021- ongoing
Cliente
Private
Superficie
4,420 square meters + 20,000 square meters of park
The Giusti Palazzo and Garden are located in the eastern area of the city of Verona to the left of the Adige River, between the hills of San Zeno in Monte and the Visconti walls, the path of which can be traced in the northern area of the garden. The palace has a “C”-shaped plan determined by the projection of two wings toward the garden, which extends to the rear of the building; they delimit two courtyards, one of service on the western side, the other of importance, in the eastern portion. On either side of the portico, two monumental stairwells create the vertical connections to access the South Wing and the North Wing, which are connected on the main floor by the central hall. The interior halls feature inlaid wooden floors and Venetian-style terraces and are decorated by suspended ceilings with 18th-century frescoes. Of the frescoes on the exterior elevations, attributed to Orazio Farinati, only a few traces remain. The garden, a veritable open-air museum, is on two levels. The lower, older one is organized according to the typical stylistic features of the Italian garden, and in the upper area there are paths that run through a grove originally rich in floral essences and different botanical species, accentuating the idea of a “locus amoenus.” The systematic set of planned interventions aims to restore functionality to the complex, in the knowledge that the full use of the property is a guarantee of its preservation. Considering the extent of the planned interventions, it was considered appropriate to adapt a maintenance plan that allows for a schedule of regular maintenance and targeted interventions. They begin in the South Wing and consist of the conservation and consolidation of the monumental aspect of the building (roofs, floors, plaster, stone elements, frescoes), in the maintenance of the outdoor spaces (given the relevance of these spaces, the garden is the subject of an ad hoc project for its restoration and enhancement financed by the MIC on PNRR funds) and in the functional adaptation of the spaces to safeguard the integrity of the entire complex and its residential and museum use.
Project funded under the PNR, by the European Union Next Generation EU PNNR M1 C3. INTERVENTION 2.3 “Programs to enhance the identity of places: historic parks and gardens.”
A true open-air museum, in which vegetation dialogues with epigraphs from the Roman and early Christian periods, the Giusti Garden presents itself constantly renewed but at the same time linked to the original design and the essential values that inspired it. From a hortus conclusus, still traceable in the entrance entrusted to the statues of Apollo and Pallas that consecrated it to art, it was converted by Agostino Giusti into a refined example of an Italian garden with boxwoods, cypresses, fountains, grottos and the typical elements of 16th-century gardens still present: vases with citrus trees, mythological statues, fountains, cedar grottos, masks and pavilions. A must-see destination on the Grand Tour, it is intended to restore the feeling of wonder triggered by the senses of smell and sight, recounted by two illustrious figures such as Goethe and Mozart and the many visitors of the 1700s. The need to preserve the richness of this place was felt after exceptional weather events, increasingly resulting from ongoing climate change, severely compromised its current layout. The project involves restoring the fallen and damaged trees, recovering the maze of boxwood hedges, re-enriching the parterre and replenishing the undergrowth, which will benefit the Garden’s biodiversity. The nineteenth-century paths that run through the garden will be addressed so as to have a comfortable experience flowing from one place to another in the park, easily reaching the small temple which is the focal and arrival point of these winding paths. The renovation of both the greenhouse and the so-called “Pavilion,” will allow the garden to be a welcoming, inclusive and safe, socio-educational-cultural hub for the locals.