Located in the historic centre of Verona, the Giardino Giusti is a garden created at the end of the 14th century and considered one of the most significant examples of Italian Renaissance gardens. An oasis of greenery just a few steps from the Arena.
During the 16th century, the garden adjacent to the Giusti family’s palace was perfected with box trees, cypresses, fountains and grottoes, in accordance with the fashion of the time. The main architect of the garden and palace was Agostino Giusti (1548/1615), a cultured man with a passion for music and painting, in contact with the Medici and the Habsburgs, and a trustee of the Venetians. A combination of nature, art and history that recalls many elements of the Medici gardens, an aesthetic reference point for the elite of the Renaissance.
THE EUROPEAN GRAND TOUR
With the spread of the Grand Tour in Europe, the Giardino Giusti became an obligatory stop for all the great travellers passing through Verona – poets, artists, crowned heads – such as Cosimo III, Charles de Brosses, Mozart, Goethe, Ruskin, Emperor Joseph II and Tsar Alexander of Russia. Today, all the elements that were fashionable in 16th-century gardens can still be seen here: vases with citrus fruits, mythological statues of Diana, Venus, Atlas, Apollo, Adonis, fountains, cedars, grottoes, masks, a labyrinth, Roman remains and pavilions to stop and admire the view.
Not to be missed is the belvedere from which you can enjoy one of the most spectacular (and famous) panoramic views of Verona.
