Tenuta di San Liberato, Bracciano

The Estate of San Liberato lies among woodland and hills gently sloping towards Lake Bracciano in Italy, near Rome, on an area that was once the city of Forum Clodii and which today is deemed to remain an area of outstanding natural beauty. It owes its name to the Romanesque church founded on this site by the Augustinian Monks.

History

The Etruscans made this their land of choice: Tarquinia, Cerveteri, Tuscania and Blera are all within a few miles of the San Liberato estate. Later, this southern part of Etruria would fall prey to Roman expansion. It was they who founded Sabate in circa 273 BC, giving the name Lacus Sabatinus to what is now Lake Bracciano. The Romanesque church of San Liberato, surrounded by the outstanding botanic gardens of the rural seat with the same name was erected in the 9th century. After the 'Dark ages', the area enjoyed new vitality. A testimony of this is the Castello Orsini Odescalchi, founded in the 12th century. This is only one of a great variety of places of interest that southern Etruria and Tuscia offer, all of which can be accessed easily from the ideal location of San Liberato. Among them we mention Caprarola with its Palazzo Farnese, Bolsena, Bagnaia – the site of Villa Lante – Monterano, the Bomarzo ‘Parco dei Mostri’ (Park of Bomarzo Monsters), Sutri, Calcata, the Natural Reserve of Marturanum, Viterbo, Falerii Veteres, Vulci …

The park

The surrounding park was designed in the 60s by the landscape gardener Russell Page, who was enraptured by the beauty of the area. It boasts rare plant specimens from all over the world: sugar maples (acer saccharum), Japanese cherry trees (Prunus serrulata), camellias, rhododendrons (Rhododendron) and sweetly fragranced Choisya ternate, as well as the finest of ancient rose gardens. The grounds take the shape of a traditional English country garden interspersed with evergreen hedges, the latter adding a typical Italian individuality to the whole. A number of themed cultivated areas are also showcased, some evoking past history, such as the herb garden opposite the mediaeval church, inspired by the Orto dei Semplici motifs.

External links

* [http://www.braccianoonline.com Webportal of Bracciano]
* [http://www.comunedibracciano.it/pagine_web/turismo/San_Liberato.htm Webpage from Bracciano municipality about the Estate of San Liberato]
* [http://www.lago-bracciano.com Webportal of towns around Lake Bracciano]
* [http://www.rossoetrusco.it RossoEtrusco: between other services, this website offers a guided tour to the Botanical Garden and the ancient Church of San Liberato]