The Borgo Storico Seghetti Panichi near

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; la, Asculum; dialetto ascolano: Ascule) is a town and ''comune'' in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is around 46,000 but the urban area of the city has more than 93,000. Geo ...

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

region of central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

comprises a 13th to 18th-century villa, a 19th-century romantic landscape by

Ludwig Winter Ludwig Winter (August 9, 1846 – July 12, 1912) was a German botanist, nurseryman and landscape designer, creator of gardens such as the Giardini Botanici Hanbury, noted for introducing tall palms and other foreign species to the Ligurian rivie ...

(one of the Grandi Giardini Italiani), a 16th-century chapel to St. Pancras and a farmstead which has been converted into a hotel.

Villa Seghetti Panichi

There was originally a castle on the site of the villa, probably from the late 10th century, which was fortified in 1311 when it was known as ‘Castel della Lama’, now the name of the adjoining village Castel di Lama. The castle was then a Guelph outpost in the war against the Ghibellines. The castle was a square building with a round watch tower on one corner, part of which is still visible in the current villa. In the late 17th century war declined in the region and from 1680 to 1750 the fort was transformed into a grand residence with an austere counter-reformation exterior.

Gardens (Parco Storico Seghetti Panichi)

In 1875, the owner of the villa commissioned

, the German botanist and landscape architect who had just finished working on the Giardini Botanici Hanbury, to create a garden around the imposing villa. Winter found that the Tronto valley had a gentle microclimate similar to the Ligurian gulf and introduced his signature exotic palm trees that he had pioneered in Liguria. He complemented the soft hillside and views of the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

and Sibillini Mountains with a lake and winding gardens, now listed in the Grandi Giardini Italiani. As well as the palms, these include a miniature oriental landscape featuring ''

Styphnolobium japonicum ''Styphnolobium japonicum'', the Japanese pagoda tree (also known as the Chinese scholar tree and pagoda tree; syn. ''Sophora japonica'') is a species of tree in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It was formerly included with ...

'' "Pendulum" and "Prunus", and a large '' Cycas revoluta''. Examples of large mature palms in the Parco Storico Seghetti Panichi include:Italian Gardens, Judith Wade, Rizzoli 2002 *'' Jubaea chilensis (spectabilis)'' *''

Phoenix canariensis ''Phoenix canariensis'', the Canary Island date palm or pineapple palm, is a species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco. It is a relative of ''Phoenix dactylifera'', the true d ...

'' *'' Chamaerops humilis'' *''

Washingtonia filifera ''Washingtonia filifera'', the desert fan palm, California fan palm, or California palm,Flora of North America Association. ''Flora of North America: North of Mexico Volume 22: Magnoliophyta: Alismatidae, Arecidae, Commelinidae (in Part), and Zi ...

'' *''

Trachycarpus fortunei ''Trachycarpus fortunei'', the Chinese windmill palm, windmill palm or Chusan palm, is a species of hardy evergreen palm tree in the family Arecaceae, native to parts of China, Japan, Myanmar and India. Description Growing to tall, ''Trach ...

'' *'' Brahea dulcis''

Chapel

The chapel was built in 1608 and dedicated to St Pancras. It is decorated with frescoes of local saints St Emygdius and St

Seraphin of Montegranaro Seraphin of Montegranaro ( it, Serafino da Montegranaro; 1540 – October 12, 1604), was an Italians, Italian Capuchin Order, Capuchin friar who is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church. Life Born Felix (Felice) Rapagnano at Montegranaro, ...

(died 1604) from the

Biagio Miniera Biagio Miniera (1697 - August 28, 1755) was an Italian painter, active in a Rococo style. Biography Miniera was born in Ascoli Piceno. He first trained locally under Carlo Palucci, then traveled to Rome to study under Pietro Subleyras and in t ...

school. Unusually, the 16th-century travertine altar faces west instead of east.

Visiting

The garden is open to the public during exhibitions and by special arrangement and to hotel guests.

References

External links