Villa Cimbrone Gardens of Ravello

While in Sorrento, we took the opportunity to tour the Cimbrone Gardens of Ravello off the Amalfi Coast. The gardens were bought for what is now the equivalent of $50. It's destiny was to be the most beautiful garden in all the world(not a hard feat when you are on a 500 foot ledge overlooking the crystal clear seas of Italy).

My favorite part was the incorporation of literature with the gardens. Little stone benches with inscriptions of beautiful quotes were tucked away everywhere at this place!

The part I didn't care too much for was that all over, there were replicas of temples and statues and art from different centuries. The garden was restored by the Astrani Family, who instituted the replicas, in the 1900's, but I would have loved to see art from that era on display. I think that by replicating the past, we loose the present, which in turn becomes a huge missing part of history.

All in all, it was a breath taking garden in the midst of the breath taking Amalfi coast!

-A.G.