Villa Floridiana description and photos - Italy: Naples (Topic)

Villa Floridiana description and photos - Italy: Naples. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Villa Floridiana.

Photo and description

Villa Floridiana is a huge park in the Vomero quarter of Naples, facing the Neapolitan suburbs of Chiaia and Mergellina. The beginning of the park was laid in 1816, when the ruler of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand I Bourbon acquired land with an 18th century villa, and in 1817-19 the architect Antonio Niccolini rebuilt the existing building in the neoclassic style and redesigned the surrounding his gardens. At the same time, Friedrich Denhardt, director of the local botanical garden, planted oaks, palms, cypresses and a huge number of flowers here. Subsequently, King Ferdinand I presented the villa to his morganatic wife Lucia Migliaccio Partanna, Duchess of Floridia, after whom the entire estate was named. Lucia used the villa as her summer residence. Today, the villa houses the Duca di Martina National Museum of Ceramics.

The Park of Villa Floridiana, spread over an area of 8 hectares, is an extraordinary mixture of the characteristic elements of Italian and English gardens. It is an alternation of dense forest groves and winding alleys decorated with pines, stone oaks, plane trees, boxwood and luxurious camellias. The romantic atmosphere is complemented by artificial ruins, statues and neoclassical fountains. Teatrino della Verdzura deserves special attention - an original and rare example of garden architecture.

You should definitely visit the Duca di Martina Ceramic Museum with one of the finest collections of decorative art in Italy. This collection of nearly seven thousand exhibits dating from the 12-19th centuries, was collected in the second half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century was donated to the inhabitants of Naples.

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Topic: Villa Floridiana description and photos - Italy: Naples.