This document discusses gardens and gardening in medieval and Renaissance Italy. It provides details on the types of gardens during these periods, including enclosed gardens, vegetable gardens, herb gardens, and pleasure gardens for noblemen. Key features of Renaissance gardens discussed include the use of terraces and stairways to accommodate hilly terrain, and connecting the house to the garden with loggias and arcades. Specific gardens highlighted include the Villa Medici designed by Michelozzo, with terraced gardens on a hillside, and the Belvedere Garden at the Vatican with architectural steps between terraces.

1. ITALY

2. ITALY
•The Italian city states looked back to the Roman Empire for
inspiration and guidance. Thus the renaissance was initiated.
•In garden design which held an equal place with the other arts,
the influence was the writing of Pliny on garden.
•The theory proposed that the garden be strongly linked to the
house by open gallery and other architectural extensions into
the landscape.
•The villa should be located on the hill side.
• Terrace and stairways were recommended to overcome the
difficulties of uneven terrains.
•The gardens of the early renaissance were designed as
intellectual retreats.
•The scholars and artists mostly worked on the coolness of the
countryside away from the heat of the cities in the summer.

3. A MEDIEVAL GARDEN
•Medieval gardening, or gardening during the Medieval period,
was used by many and for multiple purposes.
•In many ways, gardening was the chief method of providing food
for households, but also encompassed orchards, cemeteries and
pleasure gardens, as well as medicinal and cultural uses.
•Gardening is the deliberate cultivation of
plants, herbs, fruits, flowers or vegetables.

4. Types of Garden
• Hortus conclusus-Enclosed garden
• Vegetable or cottage -primarily for food production
• herber -primarily for herbs, culinary medicinal and craft
• pleasure -nobleman's garden
• orchard -fruit trees
• nuthey -an orchard of nut trees

5. GARDEN FEATURES :
1. Fencing 2. Seating 3. Fountains
4.Fishponds 5. Beds 6. Gates
7. Grass
MAIN GARDEN USES :
•Gardens were seen mainly in monasteries and manors, but
were also used by peasants.
•Gardens were used as
i. kitchen gardens
ii. herbal gardens
iii. orchards gardens
iv. cemetery gardens
•Each type of garden had their own purpose and meaning
including medicinal, food, and spiritual purpose.

6. VILLA MEDICI:
•A Villa Medici was designed by Michelozzo for Cosimo de
Medici around 1450.
•A site was selected on the hillside where it would catch the
breeze.
•Because of the hillside location several terrace where
required to fit the villa into the land.
•The entrance drive way followed the contours along the
hillside arriving at the top terrace in front of the villa.

7. VILLA MEDICI:
• The house was connected to the garden by a loggia or arcade.
• They also provided a secret garden; this was a place in which
to be alone secret hidden and quiet.
• The rest of the garden would be more public used by visitors
and guests and permeated with servants.

8. BELVEDERE GARDEN:
• Bramante has given the plank for the belvedere garden of the
Vatican.
• He has introduced architectural steps as a major garden
design feature to link terraces.
• The hillside readily available water was used for the garden

9. VILLA LANTE
• Villa lante design was directly related to an existing village.
• The garden runs from the front gate between the villas to the
top of the hillside, there is front garden and a back garden.
• At certain points jets of water were designed to spray
unsuspecting guests and stone dining table in the upper
garden utilized the water in its centre for cooling wine and
floating dishes back and forth.

11. • The enclosed garden was an oasis or paradise in contrast to
the misery and squalor in the adjacent village and
surrounding architectural landscape.
• In both of these gardens there is an inspired combination of
site and concept.
• The qualities of the site are respectfully moulded into a
stronger architectural composition. This provided an intense
contrast between natural and man-made forms.