The park
The century-old park of Strassoldo di Sopra Castle
The castle is immersed in a centuries-old park, bordered by spring-fed watercourses.
The water that sinks deeply at the foot of the mountains and travels for tens of kilometers underground finds in this place an impermeable wall of silts that blocks it and pushes it rapidly to the surface. This results in the formation of streams, springs, and crystalline ponds.
The park of Strassoldo di Sopra Castle is, therefore, surrounded by rivers and streams and has several wells.
The layout dates to the early 18th century, like that of its twin, Strassoldo di Sotto Castle.
During this period, the defensive function of the complex was no longer needed, and the surrounding marshes, once a protective element, were drained.
It was the brothers Giuseppe and Nicolò Francesco di Strassoldo who carried out extensive restoration works on the buildings and parks to adapt them to the standards of the time.
Giuseppe (1700-1783) took care of the upper castle, dedicating himself to the masonry structures and gardens, with the aim of giving the complex the graceful appearance of a typical noble residence of the 18th century.
Initially, the park was formal in design, following the fashion and tastes of the time.
The ancient late Baroque layout is recognizable in the large orangery, of which the mighty intricately carved columns and the plants of the topiary tradition of the time remain, namely carpinus bettulus that line the Milleacque course and the yews, which have now become trees of a different kind, as they have not been pruned for many years.
In the following years, and especially during the two world wars, the park underwent significant transformations due to lack of maintenance.
At the end of the 19th century, the landscape design prevailed, which required less maintenance, but the original pattern is not lost to the expert eye.
The most imposing tree is an ancient magnolia grandiflora, but there are also important specimens of maples, oaks, Lagerstroemia, tulip trees, ginkgo biloba, sweetgums, and a beautiful palm gazebo.
The park is maintained by the owner, who found it in poor condition and restored it, giving it an English flair. Taking up the old design, thousands of trees, shrubs, and plants have been planted, and underground drainage channels have been rebuilt. Today, the flower beds are full of boxwoods and collections of English and antique roses, hydrangeas, salvias, heathers, camellias, dahlias, hellebores, clematis, solanums, and many other species.
This is the ancient orchard, which originally housed fruit and vegetable plants and had central, transverse, and perimeter paths. Today, this area houses a magnificent circular 17th-century fountain with a double stone ring. In the last twenty years, rows of fruit trees and hibiscus have been replanted on the canal side, weeping willows, alders, bald cypresses, and many other trees in the rest of the garden, such as oaks, maples, ash trees, tulip trees, hibiscus, ginkgo biloba, magnolias, birches, beeches, dove trees, catalpas, paulownias, sophoras, black locusts, privets, cypresses, and sweetgums.
