Tuscany is full of incredible public gardens – from formal arrangements surrounding palaces, to leafy parks where one can wander endlessly, to botanic gardens bursting with plants from all over the globe that are waiting to be discovered, and more – but one of the most impressive and lesser-known of the region’s gardens has to be the Fineschi Rose Garden in Cavriglia in the Valdarno. An ancient town surrounded by a scattering of picturesque little hamlets at the foot of the mountains of Chianti, Cavriglia is a land of olive groves and vineyards that makes for an ideal place to come and enjoy local produce and wines while admiring the natural beauty of the area. And, while you’re enjoying all of that natural bounty, you should also make a point to see the cultivated natural splendour of the Fineschi Rose Garden. Browse our villa in the Valdarno and Tuscany Villas and come see this lovely corner of the world for yourself.
The largest private (though open to visitors) rose garden in the world, the Fineschi Rose Garden was established by Professor Gianfranco Fineschi, a surgeon and teacher of medicine at the Catholic University in Rome, and has been collecting rose species and hybrids from all over the globe since 1967. A living museum, it boasts more than 8,000 roses and among them 6,500 species and varieties – from antique roses to modern roses, ramblers and climbers – which are organised into 21 different sections spread across an acre of land, following the classification of roses. Each example and variety is also clearly labelled with little plaques in the ground next to them, telling you the name, age, and who created the particular type in question.
