Villa d'Ayala Gardens

The Park of the Villa, which is accessed from the valley, near the center of the village, spreads to a measure between 17 and 18 hectares and is entirely surrounded by walls. Its current design is attributable to a realization of the eighteenth century and this time presents some typical characteristics.

The park is set up as a mixed coppice wood, with a prevalence of holm oaks, chestnuts and maples, of great extension and, as a characteristic of the time, in fact, as the wood production: it is crisscrossed with paths almost straight but that draw an irregular checkerboard, some of which retrace the original paths others are of more recent times.

The park with productive function is then characterized by green episodes, where the track of human intervention emerges stronger, which are basically the two Italian gardens, one near the entrance and the other one part of the Castle, and the Teatrino Verzura.

The whole park is littered with fountains, statues, small architectures; extremely interesting is the system of caves and channels, probably dating back to Roman times and functions of water channeling, which runs through the park in its extension. With regard particularly to the botanical aspects, we must distinguish the park from those that have been defined exceptional episodes. The park, which occupies almost the entire length of the property, can be distinguished, in turn, in areas depending on the prevailing essence. In this characterization of the different areas of the Park overlap avenues, from time to time, with a prevalence of Plane trees, mountain maples, cherry laurel trees: there are also observable isolated specimens of species, probably inserted in the nineteenth century and for ornamental purposes, such as cedars, magnolias and others.