Bernini’s villa an heirloom of majestic nobility
Villa Barbarigo Pizzoni Ardemani is a true aristocratic palace immersed in nature. At the heart of a regional park and, in a garden designed by Luigi Bernini (the famous sculptor’s brother), the property has often been called the “most beautiful garden of Italy.”
The incredible beauty is set in Valsanzibio, in the province of Padua. Current owner Armando Pizzoni Ardemani belongs to a noble Italian family with more than 1,000 years of history, and like many other old families, its fortune and wealth suffered many ups and downs over the centuries.
In the early years of the 1900s, Armando’s grandfather, Armando Segre of Jewish origin, made a fortune in the northeast city of Trieste, but later kept a low profile to avoid problems for himself and his family as antisemitism was on the rise.
The family took on the name of Pizzoni Ardemani (Armando’s grandmother’s family name, the last descendant of this noble Italian family) and moved to Rome to start a new anonymous life. The grandfather started to reinvest a big part of his capital in real estate and bought properties and land in Milan, Rome, Venice and, with the dowry of his wife, bought a big country estate in the Euganei Hills in Padova province — the Estate of Valsanzibio. It was an estate comprising one of the most prestigious Venetian country residences, Villa Barbarigo, also called the “Small Versailles.”
The monumental complex of Valsanzibio was elevated to its contemporary magnificence in the second half of the 17th century by the Venetian noble Giovani Francesco Barbarigo, assisted by his sons Antonio and Gregorio. In fact, it was Gregorio — Cardinal and Bishop of Padua and future saint — who inspired the symbolic meaning of the plan drawn by Luigi Bernini — the top Vatican architect and fountain expert.
“The then Cardinal Gregorio Barbarigo, as the result of a solemn ‘vow’ made by his father to our God in 1631, desired the garden of Valsanzibio to be a monumental, symbolic pathway to perfection; a journey that brings man from the false to the truth, from ignorance to revelation,” said Armando.
The whole garden was designed as a salvation itinerary after the black plague ended without killing the members of the Barbarigo family so to thank God, the Barbarigo cardinal decided to build this garden as a path of salvation. “Diana’s Doorway” was not only the main entrance by water to the Barbarigo estate in the 17th and 18th centuries, but this majestic doorway represented, as it still does today, the beginning of a salvation’s itinerary. The path, by Saint Gregorio Barbarigo, ends in the square in front of the villa known as the Square of the Revelation’s Fountain.
This exceptional example of a baroque garden consists of more than 60 statues which were engraved in Istria stone by sculptor Merengo.
There are also many other different minor sculptures that integrate into a world of architecture, waterfalls and small ponds, all positioned among the different trees and plants, over an area of more than 10 hectares. The garden was hailed as the most beautiful garden in Italy in 2003 and as the third most beautiful garden in Europe in 2007.
“A total of 31 years (1665-96) was spent to complete the overall Bernini’s project. The plan of the garden resembles a Roman city. In fact, Bernini drew two main boulevards that cross each other perpendicular like in the Roman town: the Decumano, East/West, and the Cardo, North/South. The overall garden is developed on different levels and it contains various areas representing different important steps in the allegorical and symbolic purification path,” said Armando.
Armando, 46, has lived in Valsanzibio most of his life since his mother passed away in 1973 and the villa today is the family’s main residence with his wife Elisa and their two children. In contrast to the impressive garden, the villa is relatively small compared to other Veneto’s villas. The three-floor, 1,000-squaremeter villa had been refurbished in the 1990s by Armando’s father.
“Today, the interiors reflect a mixture of many styles assembled around the family furniture: empire style, classic style and many others. My father’s aim was to use all the important family heirlooms in order to create an elegant, warm and comfortable place where to live and receive guests,” Armando said.
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The villa and garden, norma visitors, is now part of the Beyo program initiated by Alessand de Altamer and his brother Gi are descendents of the noble Bo ily. Through Beyond the Gates, around the world get an opport in this incredible villa with the f