Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Jasmine Hill Garden Part 2


On with our little tour of the garden, this dolphin fountain was made in Italy in the 1400’s. There’s suppose to be a bronze boy on top, but he’s seems to have disappeared. I noticed walking through the garden there were several pieces broken or that seem to be missing and I wonder how much of it was theft? It’s sad the people would do such things to such a beautiful place.

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This path leads to a fabulous marble bench carved in relief with a scene from the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. The stone lions on the side decrease in size the closer you get to the bench to give the illusion of greater distance.

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The wall that extends around the garden is embedded with various objects. Every thing from china plates to statues can be found on and it. I never would have thought of displaying my favorite china platter on a wall in the garden.

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This is ‘Nike of Samothrace’, look at the incredible way her clothing drapes and flows. A masterpiece in Carrara marble.

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From the small reflecting pool you can see the wonderful stone veranda that attaches to the back of the cottage. How would you like to have a back porch like that?

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The Temple of Hera was the site of Olympic games and the Olympic torch was lit at the alter of Hera. In 1996 the Olympic Flame originated at the Temple of Hera at Olympia and found its way to the only full scale replica in the world of the ruins to light the cauldron on its way to the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. I’m told it continued to burn until the end of the games.

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16 comments:

Roses and Lilacs said...

What a lovely, serene place. I'd love to visit and photograph those statues. (Except the head in the box, that is kind of startling;)
Marnie

Anonymous said...

And the tour just keeps getting better! You took some great photos, thanks for sharing. :)

Randy said...

Marnie, you should plan at trip. It would be well worth it.

Racquel, my photos are NOTHING you should see the garden. Even with very few blooms is was filled with magic!

Randy said...

I'll tell you guys what, I could go back and stay at this place. Both Randy and I felt the same way about it, too!

It was so peaceful there, well except for some annoying photographer hogging a statue while shooting someone's kid. LOL... We had to walk away and come back to it... Otherwise, the whole day and the whole garden seemed so peaceful. I don't really know if was the statuary or the serenity of nature, but it was definitely something we'll be seeing again soon.

--Jamie

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

It's so cool that they have something from the 1400s in that garden. Incredible!

Phillip Oliver said...

When we first visited, the garden was weedy and in need of attention. I think there was only one gardener who took care of the place. We thought about offering them a deal to work in the gardens in exchange for living there!

tina said...

It is awesome. I love all the paths leading the stroller through this garden. The visual scenes are great. Especially the lions.

Randy said...

Monica,
The have lots of wonderful Italian antiques in the garden. Most of the terracotta pieces are centuries old.

Phillip,
If you think you have a lot of work now, imagine if you had to take care of 20 acres!

Tina,
I love all the lions! This garden has been a great inspiration for Jamie and me.

Jan said...

This is just a wonderful series of photos and it must have been so lovely in person;-) The white amaryliss are gorgeous!! What a nice place to visit and 'reflect' and 'relax'. I love the colorful china plates! Have a wonderful day! Jan

Dirt Princess said...

Lovely! Isn't Nike amazing. I got to see her in all of her glory in the Louvre. Amazing. She is huge!!! Hard to imagine her on the bow of a Roman war ship!

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Lisa at Greenbow said...

The Queen of Hearts must have been jealous of the one statue and ordered "Off with her head". Such a beautiful statue. I can't get over all of this being privately owned. WOW.

Randy said...

Lisa,
Equally amazing is though they paid unemployed people to lay the stone work, they two of them created the garden. There has to be thousands of Azaleas planted and countless other plants.

buedamau said...

great tour! i was in samothraki some years ago for a couple of days, and i just loved it: what a magical trip!
but the nike wasn't there anymore, i suppose it's at the partenon museum ;P

Chandramouli S said...

Great tour! ‘Nike of Samothrace’ is an exquisite piece of art! How stunning it'd be with her head???!!! I love ancient art! There's nothing like it. Thank you so much for this great tour.

Randy said...

Mouli,
Maybe one day you will get to see the garden in person! I'm absolutely in love with it.--Randy

Annie in Austin said...

So many of the statues at Jasmine Hill are images we're familiar with from books and movies - what fun to see them in 3 dimensions.
Can't look at the Nike without thinking of Audrey Hepburn suddenly coming out from behind the wings, dressed in a fabulous evening gown in that famous scene from Funny Face.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose