Venice is surrounded by water, there is water everywhere. Canals, fondamente, lagoon, everywhere there is water lapping at your feet. At first glance the city appears to be stone, every kind of stone, a landscape of brick walls, white paving stones and every architectural man-made detail imaginable. However on closer inspection you start to notice here and there, an ivy-covered wall, an abundance of wisteria or even a rose garden, perfumed and colourful. Venice reveals herself gradually as a city of hidden greenery, with courtyards, window boxes and balconies brimming with verdant greens and subtle perfumed fragrances.

Once you start looking for the gardens and plants of Venice you discover them everywhere. In 2019 I was an assistant to a Venice-based Wedding Planner, a delightful lady with decades of experience organising events in the city. Both weddings took place in the summer months, May and June respectively. It was sunny and hot, very hot, and both ceremonies took place in flower-filled gardens, pictures below. Venice is indeed a city of gardens if you know where to look.

Many of the palaces that line the Grand Canal have their own private gardens, some of which can be seen from the water’s edge. Others are hidden in courtyards behind monumental facades. Many of the churches and monasteries have gardens too, ranging from a productive vegetable garden known as an ‘orto’ to small, flower-filled spaces designed to offer shade and tranquillity. The Church of Sant’ Eufemia on Giudecca has a charming garden filled with tomatoes and peppers, roses and even a few grape vines. The garden is open to church-goers after mass on a Sunday, as a place to enjoy a refreshing drink and perhaps a little snack. Just round the corner from Sant’ Eufemia is a traditional Venetian campo (square) which is still grass-covered. The Sant’ Eufemia campo is a storage area for the local fishermen, nets dry in the warm, dry air. Wellington boots hang upside down on the handles of a trolley, ready for their next outing. A vine clambers up a scaffolding framework, perhaps this will be a vine-covered pergola one day offering shade on hot, summer days.

Whilst many of the gardens in Venice are traditional, with statues and fountains, some are much more contemporary. A perfect example is the Palazzo Querini Stampalia, a contemporary art centre and library open to all. The lower floors of the palace and garden were re-imagined in the 1960s by architect Carlo Scarpa. Scarpa’s garden includes narrow trenches carrying water and an interesting range of Japanese plants, and bamboos.

On the island of San Giorgio Maggiore a new box hedge labyrinth has been built honouring the literary achievements of Argentinian writer and poet Jose Luis Borges. Borges was an early exponent of the literary style known as ‘magical realism’. Appropriately, he published a collection of short stories and essays called ‘Labyrinths’ in the 1960s. This modern labyrinth offers visitors the challenge of making their way through the maze, which has been created in the shape of Borges name, revealed in an aerial view, if you look carefully enough. The reward as you leave the maze is the wonderful view of San Marco viewed from across the water!

Many years ago the charming General Manager at Cipriani, Venice’s exceptional 5-star hotel, gave me a book called ‘The Secret Gardens of Venice’ the author listed at least one hundred, maybe more, gardens throughout the city. I’d guess today, 30 years later there are probably more gardens in Venice, perhaps as many as 300. Next time you are visiting Venice let me know and I’ll arrange a special garden tour just for you – from the Biennale Gardens and the newly restored Giardini Reali near St Mark’s there’s sure to be a planting arrangement that will inspire and impress. Probably my favourites would be the simple cloisters at San Lazzaro degli Armeni (below) and the charming and slightly straggly gardens at Sant’ Eufemia. This summer I visited the Fortuny gardens, located next to Molino Stucky, these are the private Fortuny gardens and can only be visited by appointment. There’s actually a swimming pool too.

UPDATE – The Garden of the ‘Chiesa del Redentore’ is now open to the public. This is a brand NEW opening in Venice and is a collaboration between the Redentore Church and Venice Gardens Foundation. It is open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday each week from 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. My friends Marian and Eric Ramsey have already visited.

The Redentore is the imposing church on Giudecca designed by Andrea Palladio. It’s run by the Capucchin Monks. The opportunity to visit the monastic gardens is very special.

Notes:

• NEW – The Gardens at the Redentore a church, Giudecca – opened to the public for the first time in 2024. They are open Thursday, Friday, Saturday – every week from 10.00-16.00 in winter and 10.00-17.00 in summer. Per informazioni: www.venicegardensfoundation.it
• This gardens in Venice article was inspired by the Monty Don programme on the BBC.

• Monty Don’s Adriatic Gardens: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00135tx
• Another episode of the programme started in Trieste where the wonderful Miramare Castle was featured! I’ve written about Miramare Castle and the city of Trieste too.
• Trieste – a short history and also Trieste – Miramare Castle and Maximilian fascinating history to be discovered.
• A tour I designed and led in 2022 Trieste, Miramare, Aquileia and Venice

• WEDDING PLANNER – If you’d like my friend Jayne Seddon to plan your wedding in Italy you can contact Jayne via her site: www.casacollinaevents.co.uk/ or message me and I’ll put you in touch!
• PHOTOGRAPHY – In Venice Mirco Toffolo stands out, he can be reached at: www.mircotoffolo.it
• Tailor-made journeys in Italy: www.grand-tourist.com
• To learn more about a magical wedding at Cipriani: A Perfect Wedding in Venice

• Written – 10th January, 2022
• Updated: 6th February, 2023
• Updated: 29th October, 2025

www.educated-traveller.com

#grandtourist #educatedtraveller

A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR – Janet Simmonds (nee Panagakis) is a British-born Art Historian and Geographer, she specialises in the history, art and culture of Venice. She has two Master’s degrees from the Universities of Oxford and Manchester – the first in the Geography of the Mediterranean Basin, the second in Art History with a focus on Italian art and architecture, especially Venice’s blossoming as the contemporary art capital of Europe.

Janet acts as a guest lecturer for specialist groups, including universities and colleges from the US, Cultural Groups including New York’s 92^nd Y, Boston Architectural Society, National Trust Groups, and private individuals with a particular interest in unique and exceptional experiences in Venice. In recent months she has been working on a new programme exploring the links between Venice and Istanbul. She is particularly interested in the connections to be found between art, literature and social history. Examples include Peggy Guggenheim’s Venice in the 1950s and the Palazzo Barbaro circle in the 1870s, including Whistler, Henry James and Isabella Stewart Gardner.

Janet writes about Venice on her blog www.educated-traveller.com which offers an interesting perspective on life in Venice. She offers exceptional ‘in depth’ tours in Italy, Greece and Turkiye. She recently ran a private tour to Turkiye – here’s a little more detail – Turkish Delight

November, 2024

_{At work in Italy – Venetian Lagoon (left) and Paestum (right) and a map (always a map)!}