Ninfa Garden

The Garden of Ninfa, near Cisterna di Latina at the foot of the Lepini mountains south of Rome, is widely regarded as one of the most romantic gardens in the world. It is laid out over the ruins of a medieval town that flourished in the Middle Ages, then was sacked, abandoned to malaria in the 14th century and left to crumble for five hundred years. From the 1920s the Caetani family, who had owned the site for centuries, began transforming the overgrown ruins into an English-style romantic garden, weaving plantings around the roofless churches, collapsed towers, old walls and bridges, with the crystal-clear river Ninfa and its streams running throughout. The result is a landscape where nature and ruin merge: climbing roses tumble over medieval stone, magnolias, Japanese maples, cherries and ornamental grasses crowd the banks, and water reflects the broken arches everywhere. Because Ninfa is a protected nature monument with a fragile microclimate, access is strictly controlled: it opens to visitors only on selected days, usually weekends and some weekdays in spring, summer and early autumn, and entry is by guided tour following fixed paths. A visit lasts around an hour to ninety minutes on the guided circuit. Tickets must be booked well in advance and frequently sell out months ahead, especially for spring weekends when the garden is at its most spectacular. The peak season is April and May, when the roses and flowering trees bloom together, though the garden has its own beauty in summer greenery and autumn colour. Photography for personal use is generally permitted along the route. The garden lies a short distance from the medieval hill town of Sermoneta and the gardens of Ninfa are reached most easily by car from Rome or Latina. As an enchanting, scope-specific corner of southern Lazio, Ninfa rewards those who plan ahead with one of Italy's most magical garden experiences.