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.

The garden is set on the historic 8-hectare site of the old town, and is bounded by its 12th-century girdle of defensive walls. The garden has no formal structure. The general effect is of spontaneity, of senses being captivated, of extraordinary beauty and unworldliness. Many books and articles have been written about Ninfa, and poems dedicated to it. First-time visitors struggle to express the initial sensation of experiencing the garden.
1. Church of Santa Maria Maggiore – 2. Church of San Giovanni – 3. The Water Cascades – 4. The Viale del Ponte – 5. The Piazzale della Gloria – 6. The Ponte del Macello – 7. The Roman Bridge – 8. The Bamboo Spring – 9. The River – 10. The Piazza Municipale

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

Lelia Caetani developed the rock garden as a personal garden which she planted and tended on her own. It is situated on a stretch of the defensive walling from which the finer stones were pillaged centuries ago. Here, on the rubble that remained, she planted and cared for small shrubs, bulbs, annuals and herbaceous plants, in imitation of an English rock garden but composed entirely of plants that flourished in the Mediterranean climate. Among these are dwarf pomegranates, lavender, helichrysum, erigeron and swarms of eschscholtzias.

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

In 2000, Ninfa was designated a Natural Monument by the regional government. Included in this is the adjacent Pantanello Park, a 100-hectare project developed by the Foundation in the late 1990s to recreate the conditions that predominated in the surrounding countryside prior to the reclamation of the Pontine Marshes in the 1930s. With its seven lakes, hides, elevated walkways, and many hectares of woodland and exceptional habitats, the park is home to flora and fauna of all kinds. Like the garden, Pantanello Park is open seasonally to the public.

The Hortus Conclusus

This 17th-century walled garden 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 trees.

Historic buildings

Within the historic walls of Ninfa are seven churches, municipal buildings, a convent, a castle, rows of residential houses, and two 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

In 2000, Ninfa was designated a Natural Monument by the regional government. Included in this is the adjacent Pantanello Park, a 100-hectare project developed by the Foundation in the late 1990s to recreate the conditions that predominated in the surrounding countryside prior to the reclamation of the Pontine Marshes in the 1930s. With its seven lakes, hides, elevated walkways, and many hectares of woodland and exceptional habitats, the park, teems with migrating birds and is home to flora and fauna of all kinds. Like the garden, the Pantanello Park is open seasonally to the public.

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 

The Gallery House, Picketts Lane, Horney Common,
Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 3EG, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 1825 712994

Email: info@friendsofninfa.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1825 712994

Email: info@friendsofninfa.co.uk

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