Villa Cimbrone, Ravello

Villa Cimbrone is a historic villa and garden estate perched on the edge of a dramatic cliff at the southern extremity of the village of Ravello, 350 metres above the Amalfi Coast in the Campania region of Italy. The property's origins lie in an 11th-century Lombard manor; in 1904, Lord Ernest William Beckett (later 2nd Baron Grimthorpe), a wealthy English banker, purchased the ruined property and spent the following two decades transforming it into an eclectic ornamental garden combining medieval Gothic architecture, classical statuary, and Mediterranean planting. The villa became a celebrated retreat for the European cultural elite: Greta Garbo famously hid here with conductor Leopold Stokowski in 1938; Tennessee Williams, Virginia Woolf, Winston Churchill, E.M. Forster, and Bertrand Russell all stayed or visited. The gardens are entered through a mediaeval Gothic entrance hall leading to the Garden of Bacchus, then proceed through themed spaces including the Temple of Bacchus, the Garden of Ceres, the Mercury Temple, and an atmospheric cave-crypt. The Belvedere Cimbrone (Terrace of Infinity), at the far end of the garden walk, is the heart of the estate's fame: a broad terrace balustrade adorned with 18 classical marble busts overlooks a sheer 350-metre drop directly to the Mediterranean Sea and the coastline below. The view has been described by Gore Vidal as 'the most beautiful in the world.' The villa itself is now a luxury hotel, but the gardens are open daily to non-residents for an admission fee. The garden circuit takes 60–90 minutes, and combining the visit with Villa Rufolo makes a complete Ravello half-day.