Gardens of botanical collections, history, and romantic landscapes
Places visited
Villa Farina, 1840 – Baronissi (Salerno)
An elegant 19th-century noble residence, Villa Farina was built by the Farina Barons, renowned breeders of the Persano horse. Still owned by the family’s descendants, the villa houses original furnishings and a rich historic library.
Its English-style garden, designed in the mid-1800s by Friedrich Dehnhardt, the celebrated German botanist and long-time director of the Naples Botanical Garden, spans over 1.5 hectares. It features raised flower beds known as “a poggio”, rare trees and exotic plants, including a monumental blue cedar. Highlights include a greenhouse with stove accessed via a small bridge over a pond, and a charming Moorish-style pavilion known as la Fagianeria.
Minerva Garden, 12th century – Salerno
Located in the medieval heart of Salerno, the Minerva Garden is the first documented “Giardino dei Semplici” (Garden of Medicinal Plants) in Europe, conceived for scientific and educational purposes.
It was Matteo Silvatico, physician of the Salerno Medical School, who cultivated medicinal herbs here, using them to teach students in a practice known as ostensio simplicium.
Today, the garden is laid out on terraces supported by ancient walls, with an Arabic-inspired water system of channels and fountains. Around 300 botanical species are cultivated and labeled in Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Italian. A 18th-century staircase with a covered walkway offers a splendid view of the Gulf of Salerno.
Villa D’Ayala Valva, 18th/19th century – Valva (Salerno)
Nestled within an 18-hectare landscaped park, Villa D’Ayala Valva merges 18th-century noble refinement with romantic garden design. The original Norman tower, dating back to the 11th century, was incorporated into the current villa by Marquis Giuseppe Maria Valva. After his death in 1831, the estate passed to the D’Ayala family of Spanish origin.
The park features tree-lined avenues, neoclassical statues, a hedge maze, meadows, a romantic grotto, and a green theater adorned with 18th-century marble busts. The area known as the “Hemicycle of Beauty” is a highlight, evoking the aesthetics of a classical open-air salon.
Travel Storytelling
A refined botanical journey through the Gardens of Earth, in the green heart of Campania.
The Earth – one of the four classical elements – is the fundamental essence of any garden. Fertile and generous, it allowed for the creation of unique cultural and natural landscapes, capable of hosting rare plants, exotic species, and stories rooted in centuries of human care and creativity.
Our journey begins at Villa Farina, where nature and knowledge intertwine through Dehnhardt’s landscape design. Raised flower beds, centuries-old trees, and garden follies reveal a deeply romantic vision of horticulture.
We then head to Salerno’s old town to visit the Minerva Garden, a medieval oasis of science and silence, where medical knowledge grew alongside healing herbs, and where the four ancient languages of medicine still name each plant.
After a relaxing lunch in a typical local restaurant, the afternoon takes us to the remote village of Valva, where the Villa D’Ayala park opens up as a theatrical setting: shady paths, neoclassical sculptures, a vegetated theater, and fanciful features all invite us into a 19th-century dreamscape where art and landscape coexisted in harmony.
Info & Prices
The price includes:
Information & booking: campania@adsi.it
