Tenuta Pietraperciata, via Fondaco D'accorso sn, 98039 | Trappitello di Taormina (ME)
Info & Contacts
Info & Contacts
Tenuta Pietraperciata,
Via Fondaco D'accorso sn, 98039
Trappitello di Taormina (ME)
+32 498 958386 | +39 329 8343562
info@giardinivictoria.it
Tenuta Pietraperciata,
Via Fondaco D'accorso sn, 98039
Trappitello di Taormina (ME)
+32 498 958386 | +39 329 8343562
info@giardinivictoria.it
The Garden, or rather the Victoria Gardens, is an ornamental park immersed in the historic Pietraperciata agricultural estate in Taormina.
The Victoria Gardens are open only by appointment. We are closed in July and August.
The Garden, or rather the Victoria Gardens, is an ornamental park immersed in the historic Pietraperciata agricultural estate in Taormina.
The Victoria Gardens are open only by appointment. We are closed in July and August.
THE HISTORY OF VICTORIA NATURAL GARDENS
From a business idea to a green innovation for Taormina
The Victoria Garden is the centrepiece of an entrepreneurial idea to diversify the agricultural activities of the Pietraperciata estate in Taormina, launched in 2021 by the owner Vittoria Alliata of Villafranca
Do you want to receive more information about our services? Request more information.
Do you want to receive more information about our services? Request more information.
The History of Natural Gardens Victoria
The Victoria Garden is the centrepiece of an entrepreneurial idea (named Ri-pristina) to diversify the agricultural activities of the Pietraperciata estate in Taormina, launched in 2021 by the owner Vittoria Alliata of Villafranca. The estate opens its doors for the first time to visitors so that they may enjoy the six hectares of Victoria Gardens .
“The name Ri-pristi-na embodies the essence of my business idea - says Vittoria Alliata of Villafranca - that of opening the doors of the Victoria Gardens and offering services aimed at Re-newing the personal contact with nature, participating in the programme to restore biodiversity and take a plunge in local culture and tradition. I am happy to announce that since 2024 our Garden is a member of the Grandi Giardini Italiani the prestigious Italian association of Gardens of excellence (www.grandigiardini.it).”
“Gardens” and not “garden” because there are three realities in one, an ornamental garden in the hills with collections of flowers, a garden called "Pomario" which contains a collection of fruit trees and a more isolated and natural garden totally dedicated to restoring biodiversity and to bird watching.
Pietraperciata is documented among the properties of the De Spuches family from the early eighteenth century. Since then, for almost three centuries, the estate has remained within the same family descent, through marriages and inheritance linking the De Spuches, San Martino del Pardo and Alliata di Villafranca families.
The De Spuches belonged to the old Sicilian aristocracy. In 1712 Biagio De Spuches Lanza married Maria Agata Amato Cirino, Duchess of Santo Stefano di Briga. From this family descended Giuseppe De Spuches Amato Lanza e Corvaja (1741–1823), born in Taormina and grandfather of Vittoria De Spuches e Ruffo (1820–1897). In the nineteenth century, Vittoria De Spuches e Ruffo married Antonino San Martino, of the Princes of Pardo, and through this marriage Pietraperciata passed to the San Martino branch of the family. One of their sons, Francesco San Martino De Spuches (1859–1925), had three daughters. The eldest, Vittoria San Martino De Spuches, married Gabriele Alliata di Villafranca who cared for Pietraperciata and handed it on to her Alliata di Villafranca descendants. The history of the estate is thus marked by a distinctive continuity, in which the women of the family have often been the link between successive generations and different family branches.
The name of the Victoria Gardens belongs to this same story. Vittoria Alliata, who founded the Gardens within the estate, chose the name in tribute to her grandmother, Vittoria San Martino De Spuches, whose dedication helped preserve Pietraperciata through the difficult years of the Second World War and its aftermath. Looking further back, this continuity takes on an additional meaning: before her, the name Vittoria had also been borne by Vittoria De Spuches e Ruffo and, earlier still, by Vittoria Brancoli, wife of Giuseppe De Spuches. The founder of the Gardens is thus the fourth Vittoria in this family history.
The Victoria Gardens and the landscape of Taormina
At the beginning of the nineteenth century Taormina was transformed from little-known Sicilian town into a mythical destination. Toto Roccuzzo, in his Taormina, an island in the sky (Mondadori 2001), describes these events and also the transformation of the surrounding landscape, which is integral to the charm of the area. Florence Trevelyan greatly contributed to this as she arrived in Taormina in 1882. She belonged to an English family with great intellectual traditions, was curious and enterprising. After having studied the typical flora of Taormina she began to plant flowers and shrubs even in the most uncultivated and stony places and to transform the imposing escarpments that go from the town to the sea into an immense garden, with particular care for Isola Bella. Inspired by the Anglo-Saxon myth of the romantic garden, she planted cypresses and roses next to real ruins of antiquity. Classical pergolas accompanied the growth of balsamic jasmine and bougainvillea in tropical colors. It is thanks to Trevelyan that the landscape and gardens of Taormina and its surroundings acquired that rich and surprising aspect that can still be admired today. What better source of inspiration for the Victoria Gardens! Enhance the old family farm drawing inspiration from what Florence Trevelyan did for the landscape of Taormina! There are many beautiful private gardens in Taormina, but the Victoria Gardens are special because they are part and parcel of a working fruit farm.
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The activities are in full swing in the Victoria Gardens: we have opened to the public in 2023. Stay up to date on all the news and promotions on our services.