Medici Garden in Florence and Final post!

IH- On Friday, June 27th our class went to go see the Medici villa gardens in Florence where we saw yet another rendition of what type of plants the Medici family produced back in the day. We had a wonderful guide as seen above who told us all about the garden including the different sections all the way to how the estate was laid out on the lopsided hill. He explained how the fountains used the pressure of gravity to force water up and down the pipes as well as showing us all the different production of the variety of citrus trees in the garden. You can see a citron fruit above that our professor is holding alongside our guide. Citron was surprisingly huge if you couldn’t tell by looking at the hand/fruit comparison. This symmetrical garden was full of this fruit as well as many other plants that I can’t remember right now. I do remember though some plants were sectioned off from others as a smaller garden that included jasmine, woodworm, and lavender. We were very lucky to see that part of the garden because that section is closed to the public but we got special access! The Medici garden was also symmetrical and very beautiful. It appeared to take the form of the number 8 or infinity sign which was really cool to see as well as the paintings of all the Medici gardens inside the house. After touring all throughout Italy, I feel very glad and truly blessed to visit all these ornate gardens that I probably would have never gone too if I wasn’t on this study abroad program. I want to thank my professors and all the staff at the Santa Chiara Center for making my stay at Castiglion Fiorentino one of the best experiences of my life. Thank you.