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Showing posts with the label royal garden

Boboli Gardens a wonderful royal destination

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Gardening has numerous advantages, spanning physical, mental, and environmental benefits.  I must admit, I adore gardening as much as visiting a wonderful royal garden. After the visit of Palazzo Pitti in June 2024, I visited the Boboli Gardens, which are located directly behind the Palazzo Pitti, the main residence of the de' Medici Family.  The Boboli Gardens are known for its strict and formal Italian style. As it was a very hot day in Florence, the shadow brought some refreshment but not a lot. However the Boboli Gardens really are a wonderful royal destination with again lots of royal history. Some royal history The Boboli Gardens were laid out for Eleonora di Toledo, the wife of Cosimo I de' Medici.The name may be a corruption of "Bogoli"or "Borgoli", possibly the name of a family who had previously owned the land. The first stage had scarcely been begun by Niccolò Tribolo when he died in 1550, after which the construction was continued by Bartolomeo ...

At the Royal Greenhouses of Laken

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On April 20th. 2023, I finally got the chance to visit the Royal Greenhouses of Laken (near Brussels). First we passed the Royal Palace of Laken, the family home of King Philippe of the Belgians. In the Royal Park of Laken, the Greenhouses are located.  Dark clouds above the Royal Greenhouses of Laken History The original gardens of the Royal Palace of Laeken date back to the 18th century, but King Leopold II drastically changed their appearance. The king, having visited the Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, wanted such a progressive building in his palace's garden, which would combine his love for plants with multifunctional spaces that could also be used as a banquet, theatre and dining halls. He commissioned his architect Alphonse Balat to create a greenhouse. The inauguration took place in 1880, but the complex was also expanded afterwards.  After Balat's death, Leopold called upon the architects Henri Maquet and Charles Girault. The octagonal Palm ...