Top of the World
600,000 square meters in size, 1 million Tulips, 40,000 Buxus, 18 bodies of water: these and many more are the wonders of the Sigurtà Garden Park in Valeggio sul Mincio, just a stone's throw from Lake Garda.
It all came about thanks to a... buggy. In 1941, gasoline was scarce because of the World War and Dr. Carlo Sigurtà went to Valeggio, a town 8 km from Peschiera del Garda famous for its gigs, to buy one and, on the same occasion, on impulse, bought a 60-hectare agricultural estate. Thanks to the right to draw water from the Mincio River, which runs alongside the property, Dr. Sigurtà together with his grandson Enzo succeeded year after year in bringing to life this unique naturalistic treasure.
Today, visitors to the Park can admire the majestic Great Oak, 400 years old, the Avenue of Roses, which welcomes 30,000 re-blooming Roses from May to September, the 50 varieties of annual plants, the blooming of Dahlias, Water Lilies and Lotus Blossoms. Not forgetting the Labyrinth, designed by Giuseppe Inga Sigurtà and the famous labyrinth specialist Adrian Fisher, the Hermitage, the Horizontal Sundial and the Castelletto, dedicated to Nobel Laureates Domagk, Fleming, Waksman, Lorenz and the scientist Sabin, guests here at round tables and scientific meetings.
