a garden in venice

the garden

NO NEED FOR NONNA TO CREATE A PARADISE GARDEN WHEN SHE MOVED INTO HER NEW HOME IN JUNE 1968 .. IT WAS ALREADY THERE.. Discover her Giardino del Cuore, located in the ancient heart of Venice.

No need for Nonna to create a paradise garden when she moved into her new home in June 1968 .. it was already there.

Discover her Giardino del Cuore, located in the ancient heart of Venice.

La Terrazza - our garden magazine hosted on Substack, tells the story of the oldest garden in Venice, and the monastery of which it was part, once the largest and richest in the Lagoon. And yes, the garden is still as green as it looks in these images, with 248 edible plant species currently growing here: A sanctuary of the forgotten Lagoon flora, filled with salt-loving herbs like critmo marittimo and minutina, camelias, but also wisteria, roses, figs, hydrangea, and pomegranates. 

discover the stories of the oldest garden in venice

what's inside

the garden

In Venice, you can make out seven garden styles, based on Byzantine and Persian hanging gardens. Discover them step by step as the magazine grows :-) Plus, what we found out about the former orto (garden) of San Zaccaria.

the monastery

While the paintings, crypta, and art of San Zaccaria are well known, we focus on the forgotten story of the San Zaccaria gardens, and forgotten recipes such as the unique almond calissoni.

the recipes

In Nonna's home, the library of the former monastery guesthouse is located. Our main source for testing the ancient Venetian recipes using flowers, herbs, and spices and other garden ingredients.

“Yucca blossoms, soft green figs, uva fragola grapes. Venetian gardens taste like paradise.


- nonna lina

the edible treasures of venice

Tasting a Venetian garden: delicious botanical cuisine

Baking with rose petals and rose syrup. Making grappa-and-lilac-flavored sweet breads, or rose-lilac sugar? Yes, this is possible and we will show you how it was done in Venice for more than 800 years. Not only will you discover a Venetian orchard and vegetable garden, hanging garden terraces, but also the forgotten historical recipes of Venice! Some of them date back to the 12th century.

Did you know? For 800 years, VENICE was the greenest city in Europe ..

Venetian garden styles

Palace gardens - kitchen gardens, monastery gardens - Lagoon gardens, and many more.

bonus: Nonna's recipes

30 exclusive recipes with ingredients from the garden, and resources from the San Zaccaria. library.

The garden calendar

Seasonal botanical calendar, with ideas for your own backyard!

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Bonus: our E-Book on restoring the oldest garden in

Venice.”

Nonna's family moved into the guesthouse of the San Zaccaria monastery in April 1968, invited by the nuns had decided to leave. Within 10 years, she succeeded in restoring the ancient garden which had suffered badly from the 1966 floods.

“The monastery became a private home and small guesthouse

with a view ..”

.. and a small enchanted courtyard garden below the hanging terraces. Here, Lina created a Lagoon sanctuary for forgotten herbs from the salt marshes, using them as ingredients in her restaurant.

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