The Horti Leonini are beautiful gardens right in the centre of San Quiricod'Orcia. Their creation is most likely linked to the reconstruction policy of the Grand Duchy of Florence after the long war which culminated with the fall of the Republic of Siena in 1558.

 

AMONG GEOMETRIC AND WILD SHAPES
The current arrangement of the garden is very different from the original one whose central axis was arranged in such a way as to separate the geometric part from the "wild" part.
Today the garden axis is divided into two symmetrical areas, finding an element of continuity in the long central staircase that splits the wild area into two and leads from the entrance level to the upper area. At the beginning of the travertine staircase, a table with two-faced Janus in the centre marks the passage between the lower and the upper part. As you go up the stairs towards the upper floor, you will come across paths that start from the central axis and allow you to enter the grove of holm oaks.

 

THE ROSE GARDEN
Holm-oak plants are also found on the current entrance and along the left side running the entire length of the garden. At the bottom of this row is the Rose Garden, an appendix located outside the Horti and accessed via a staircase.
Since the 1930s, the Rose Garden has occupied a small space near the Parish Church of Santa Maria, located near the end part of the Horti Leonini. That space was occupied by a square that separated the church from the garden and was called "Platea Leonina". A recent procedure  brought back the idea of the original square and the traditional presence of a Rose Garden.

 

For more than forty years, the Leonini Horti have hosted the sculpture exhibition Formenel Verde, an event of international relevance and which has the virtue of proposing contemporary themes in the historical green area.

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