Bagnaia Travel Guide

 iandsmith Says:  Here we see volutes joined together to transport the flow from the fountain of the dolphins to the Fountain of the Giants. The volutes design originates from and emulates the gills of a shrimp, the emblem of Cardinal Gambara who funded the whole project. 

 iandsmith Says:  This is the link road between the Villa and the town square. If you look closely you can clearly see the tower at the end of the street.The street has the usual tourist paraphernalia; postcard shops, ristorante and tacky souvenirs but the cobblestones and aged buildings add... 

 iandsmith Says:  The classic patterns of a Renaissance garden are highlighted here with the recently fallen snow making the geometric shapes stand out. 

 iandsmith Says:  After I had passed through the village and then decided to go and ask someone where Villa Lante was, I ended up in a convenient carpark adjacent to a bridge I had just crossed over before turning around. In the carpark is a guide to the town.You only walk a couple of hundred... 

 iandsmith Says:  The fountains in the gardens are supposed to potentially play tricks on you by spraying water when you least expect it. This 16th century practical joke wasn't even a fizzer. In fact, there were more fountains not working than actually gushing water. The bonus is I got to... 

 iandsmith Says:  If you've been checking out my other pages you could be forgiven for thinking there's a similarity here.Though Villa Lante is considered Vignola's masterpiece by many learned authorities he nonetheless has an equally famous work at nearby Bomarzo, the Sacro Bosco or garden... 

 iandsmith Says:  There's two ways to tell what day it is in Italy. If the piazza is packed in the village and there are stalls, it's market day. If it's just packed, it's Sunday.It was on such a day then that I gazed upon Cardinal Ridolfi's castle gate (1541) and the unmissable tower above... 

 iandsmith Says:  At the sides of the garden are two places of rest and just the ticket for that Sunday afternoon barbie (as we tend to say in Australia.) Though one was closed off I got into the other and managed to get a pic, even without my banned tripod, of the ceiling frescoes. 

 iandsmith Says:  With 16 dolphins on the fountain, it's hardly surprising where it gets its name but it was originally called Fons Coralli and was enclosed by a kiosk with vines and creepers so its appearance today belies that of yesteryear. 

 iandsmith Says:  The main reason tourists come to Bagnaia is the gardens of Villa Lante, begun in 1562 on the orders of Cardinal Gambara. Their high position overlooking the town adds to their attractiveness and makes them appear even larger than they are.