ninfa today
ninfa today
Ninfa Today
Specific features
General description
As an historic, cultural and conservational project, Ninfa is unique among Italy’s family patrimonies.
from nature to historic buildings
specific features
Plants and ecosystem
Ninfa has over 1,300 catalogued plants, sourced from all over the world. The planting is kept simple and without technical artifice, according to the exemplary tradition established by Lelia Caetani Howard, last family owner. Plants and trees have for the most part thrived in Ninfa’s contrasting seasons, although now is a time of reassessment in view of the threats posed by climate change, greater extremes of weather, and how these might affect Ninfa’s fragile ecosystem. Magnolias and Japanese cherries are the main features of the garden in March and April, closely followed by the first climbing roses, some of which were planted by Duchess Ada in the 1920s. Bushes of two rose varieties, Mutabilis and Rosa roxburghii, are planted throughout the garden and bind it together. The leaves of many of the trees, including beech, birch and Liquidambar styraciflua, develop rich colours in autumn.
The Lake
A man-made lake, built centuries ago to capture Ninfa’s abundant spring water for human consumption, to irrigate the estates and to harness energy, has undergone significant repairs in recent years. Besides feeding the river (originally known as Nymphaeus) that is well-stocked with brown trout, its waters are channelled into an automated underground sprinkler system which reaches most corners of the garden.
The Arboretum
The original nucleus of the arboretum, located close to the western edge of the ancient medieval city, was planted by Lelia Caetani, and dates from 1970. In the short period before her death, she introduced and experimented with a variety of trees that had captured her imagination. Many of the original species are still present, some majestic and noteworthy, for example Quercus phellos, Liquidambar formosana, Nyssa sylvestris, a fine grouping of Taxodium distichum, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, and Acer velutinum vanvolxemii. From 1980 onwards, the arboretum was significantly expanded.
The Rock Garden
The Hortus Conclusus
This 17th-century walled garden, dominated by two magnificent Magnolia grandiflora, abuts the castle at Ninfa. In it are two ponds, home nowadays to swans and mallard, and an original fountain and sun dial. The garden is stocked with a variety of citrus fruits and two avocado pear trees.
Historic buildings
Within the historic walls of Ninfa are seven churches, municipal buildings, a convent, a castle, rows of residential houses, and two ancient stone bridges, one believed to be from Roman times, the other medieval. Many stretches of the original fortified walls remain, including the ruins of 14 towers. In Santa Maria Maggiore, the most important of Ninfa’s churches, traces of the original frescoes can still be seen. Most of the frescoes were removed from the walls and are conserved in the Caetani Castle at Sermoneta.
Pantanello Park
The Hortus Conclusus
Historic buildings
Pantanello Park
Visit ninfa
LIKE NOWHERE ELSE...
... Ninfa’s garden combines the ruined buildings and churches of an abandoned medieval town, highly cultured Italian ownership, 100 years of Anglo-American good taste in plants and flowers, and a luminously clear supply of running water, fresh from springs which feed the lake, the flower beds and the green charm of the place.
– Robin Lane Fox, author, academic and garden expert
Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 3EG, United Kingdom