The Public Gardens of Ventimiglia
There is a place in the centre of Ventimiglia that might seem strangely exotic today. It is the public gardens in via Vittorio Veneto; a green ganglion set in the bowels of cement in the middle of busy thoroughfares. The botanical-obstetric cradle commissioned by the illustrious 20th gardeners Thomas Hanbury and Ludovico Winter is located here. The experimental beddings and cultivations of western Riviera palms in particular creates a delightfully scenic urban paradise that takes you back to bygone days, to the rediscovery of books, to romantic walks, to fragrant intuitions.
In the western Riviera of Liguria, the custom of the “constructed park” developed between the second half of the 1800s and the first decades of the twentieth century. Published at that time was the novel “Doctor Antonio” by Giovanni Ruffini, patriot of the Giovine Italia and childhood friend of Mazzini, in exile in London. The novel is the tale of the tender love story between Lucy, the daughter of the English nobleman Sir John Davenne who is forced to take a long sojourn in a house near Bordighera because of an accident while returning from Rome, and “Doctor Antonio”, the country doctor from Bordighera who treats him. The setting for the plot is the Riviera countryside, with the beauty of its natural resources, the uniqueness of the old town centres and the typical features of farmhouse lodgings.
The novel aroused enormous interest at the time; so much so in fact that the places it described soon became the destination for the many English and German travelers who remained fascinated by it all; they chose it as a resort area and gave rise to a cultural movement that distinctively changed the surroundings and encouraged the rise of tourism in the western Riviera of Liguria. Hotels and private villas with parks and gardens sprang up, profoundly changing the rural landscape.
Part of this scenario is the city park of Ventimiglia, which now covers an area of circa 16,740 m2 of flowerbeds and paths.
One characteristic in particular makes it “unique”: given its proximity to the sea, from every park bench you can admire the sunset as it brushes against the horizon and bursts into a suggestive interplay of colours and light.
Indirizzo: Via Veneto (Ventimiglia)
Recapiti: tel. 0184/280225 ; 0184/280223 (Comune di Ventimiglia)
Proprietà: Comune di Ventimiglia
Orari di apertura al pubblico: 8,00-19,30 tutti i giorni.
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