Gardens of Vatican City

File:Helena of Constantinople (Cima da Conegliano).jpg carrying the One True Cross laying the grounds for the gardens using the sacred soil from Mount Calvary. ]]

Pious tradition claim that the foundation site of the Vatican Gardens was spread with sacred soil brought from Mount Calvary by Empress Saint HelenaPatron saint of archaeologists to symbolically unite the blood of Jesus Christ with that shed by thousands of early Christians, who died in the persecutions of Emperor Nero Caesar Augustus.{{cite web|url=http://www.moplants.com/archives/vatican_gardens.php |title=MO Plants: Vatican Gardens |publisher=copyright 2006 MoPlants.com] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308064711/http://www.moplants.com/archives/vatican_gardens.php |archive-date=March 8, 2012}} Archived: March 8, 2012.

The gardens date back to medieval times when orchards and vineyards extended to the north of the Papal Apostolic Palace.{{cite web |url=http://www.pellegrinocattolico.com/ctv/gardens.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413133503/http://www.pellegrinocattolico.com/ctv/gardens.htm |archive-date=April 13, 2008 |title=Al Pellegrino Cattolico: The Vatican Gardens |access-date=November 21, 2008 |publisher=copyright 2008 Al Pellegrino Cattolico s.r.l. Via di Porta Angelica 81 (S.Pietro) I- 00193 Roma, Italy |url-status=dead }} In 1279, Pope Nicholas III (Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, 1277–1280) moved his residence back to the Vatican from the Lateran Palace and enclosed this area with walls.{{cite web |url=http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Monuments/The_Vatican_Gardens/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821063830/http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Monuments/The_Vatican_Gardens/ |archive-date=August 21, 2008 |title=Official Vatican City State Website: A Visit to the Vatican Gardens |access-date=November 21, 2008 |publisher=copyright 2007–08 Uffici di Presidenza S.C.V. |url-status=dead }} He planted an orchard (pomerium), a lawn (pratellum), and a garden (viridarium). Firstly, they appeared near the hills of Sant'Egidio where today the Palazzetto del Belvedere and the Courtyards of the Vatican Museums are located.

The site received a major re-landscaping at the beginning of the 16th century, during the pontificate of Pope Julius II.{{cite web|url=http://www.romeguide.it/VATICANO/gardens1/gardens.htm|title=Vatican Gardens|access-date=November 21, 2008|publisher=copyright 2008 Cooperativa IL SOGNO, Viale Regina Margherita, 192 – 00198 ROMA|archive-date=November 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102203133/http://www.romeguide.it/VATICANO/gardens1/gardens.htm|url-status=dead}} Donato Bramante's original design was then split into three new courtyards, the Cortili del Belvedere, the "della Biblioteca" and the "della Pigna" (or Pine Cone) in the Renaissance landscape design style.{{cite web|url=https://rome.us/the-vatican-city/vatican-gardens.html/amp/|title=Vatican Gardens – Discover the Most Beautiful and Secret Gardens in the World|date=March 2, 2022 |publisher=Rome.us|access-date=17 May 2022}} Also in Renaissance style, a great rectangular Labyrinth, formal in design, set in boxwood and framed with Italian stone pines, (Pinus pinea) and cedars of Lebanon, (Cedrus libani). In place of Nicholas III's enclosure, Bramante built a great rectilinear defensive wall.

In 1921 a fire broke out inside the sanctuary of the Basilica of Loreto and destroyed a statue of the Virgin Mary, known as Our Lady of Loreto. The statue was commissioned by Pope Pius XI in 1922. It was carved from cedars of Lebanon from the Vatican Gardens. The sculpture, designed by Enrico Quattrini and painted by Leopoldo Celani, is still one of the most venerated today in the Basilica of Loreto, in the Marche region.

Since the end of 2014, the Vatican Museums and the Directorate of Technical Services of the Governorate of Vatican City State have been running the project of restoration and conservation{{Cite web|url=http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/eventi-e-novita/iniziative/Eventi/2017/restauro-opere-dei-giardini-vaticani.html|title=The restoration of the works of the Vatican Gardens|website=www.museivaticani.va|language=en|access-date=2019-11-25}} of various stone artifacts in the gardens. The goal of the project has been to prevent the deterioration of the objects of art-historical interest.

In October 2017 the professionals involved in the restoration conducted a study to consider, from a scientific point of view, modern methods and eco-sustainable techniques in application to the conservation of the artifacts over time. After a careful study, they opted for non-toxic and environmentally friendly products, such as oregano (Origanum vulgare) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris), along with other plant protection products used individually or combined.{{Cite web|url=https://it.euronews.com/2017/10/04/il-restauro-ecosostenibile-dei-giardini-vaticani|title=Il lifting ecosostenibile dei Giardini Vaticani|last=Rizzi|first=Cinzia|date=2017-10-04|website=euronews|language=it|access-date=2019-11-25}}

Today's Vatican Gardens are spread over nearly {{convert|23|ha|0}}, they contain a variety of medieval fortifications, buildings and monuments from the 9th century to the present day, set among vibrant flower beds and topiary, green lawns and a {{convert|3|ha|0}} patch of forest. There are a variety of fountains cooling the gardens, sculptures, an artificial grotto devoted to Our Lady of Lourdes, and an Olive tree donated by the government of Israel.{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/06/travel/glorious-gardens-of-the-vatican.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |title = Glorious Gardens of the Vatican |access-date = March 1, 2013 |last = Hofmann |first = Paul |date = July 6, 1997 |work = The New York Times}}

Both the Vatican and Castel Gandalfo gardens became open to the general public in 2014.{{cite web | url=https://www.pope2you.net/are-vatican-gardens-worth-visiting/ | title=Are Vatican gardens worth visiting? | date=May 28, 2019 }}

In 2019, Rafael Tornini, head of the Garden and Environment Service of the Vatican, announced the gardens had been transitioning to organic lawn management since 2017.{{Cite web |last=Caldwell |first=Zelda |date=2019-08-02 |title=The Vatican Gardens are going "green" |url=https://aleteia.org/2019/08/02/the-vatican-gardens-are-going-green/ |access-date=2020-03-06 |website=Aleteia — Catholic Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture |language=en}}

File: Thérèse Martin-Histoire d'une âme-A38.jpg decree and conferment of Saint Therese of France to be Patroness of the gardens, flanked by Cardinal Louis Billot. The Leonine walls, 17 May 1927. ]]

Pope Pius XI designated Saint Therese of Lisieux, France as the official Patroness of the gardens on 17 May 1927, according to her the title as "Sacred Keeper of the Gardens" and within the same year, a small chapel dedicated to her was built within the gardens near the Leonine walls.

The following are venerated images of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom are expressedly designated via Pontifical decree to be enshrined at the Vatican Gardens:

File:Ogrod papieski.jpg|Part of the Vatican Gardens

File:Fountain of the Eagle, Vatican gardens, Rome.JPG|The Fountain of the Eagle "Fontana dell'Aquilone" in the Vatican Gardens

File:Khatchkar Vatican Gardens 2011-07-05.jpg|Armenian cross monument (Khatchkar) inside the Vatican Gardens

File:Vatican Gardens 2.jpg|Vatican Gardens

File:Vatican Gardens 4.jpg|Palace of the Governorate of Vatican City State

File:Vatican Gardens 6.jpg|Vatican Gardens

• Vatican Climate Forest
• Index of Vatican City-related articles

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last=Nichols|first=Fiona|title=Rome and the Vatican|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S-TekVnvyx4C&pg=PA85|access-date=March 4, 2010|date=August 1, 2006|publisher=New Holland Publishers|isbn=978-1-84537-500-3|pages=85–|ref=Nichols69}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Ricci, Corrado. "Vatican: Its History Its Treasures" Contributor Ernesto Begni. copyright 2003 Published by Kessinger Publishing, {{ISBN|0-7661-3941-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7661-3941-1}}
• {{Catholic Encyclopedia|title=Vatican City Gardens}}

The initial version is based upon the article :it:Giardini Vaticani of the Italian language edition of Wikipedia. Data concerning the measures of lengths were taken from the article :de:Vatikanische Gärten of the German language edition of Wikipedia.

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• {{Official website|1=http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/en/monumenti/giardini-vaticani.html}}
• [http://cdm16028.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/107497 The Vatican: spirit and art of Christian Rome], a book from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on the gardens (pp. 155–164)

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Category:Geography of Vatican City

Category:Parks in Vatican City