#📺 Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens (2022)

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Rabbit Island, Villa Barbarigo | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens: Venice

From what was quite a common feature in Renaissance and Baroque gardens, this rabbit island is possibly the last surviving one. Here at Barbarigo, it has a symbolic purpose: it represents the way that life which seems to be free and full of free will actually is tightly constrained by time and space. But rabbits were kept in these gardens to be eaten, and if you kept them on an island with a moat around it - approached only via a drawbridge - that meant they were protected until you were ready to take them to the kitchen.

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Irises | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens: Croatia

The iris was designated the national flower of Croatia in the year 2000; chosen because it symbolises wisdom and peace.

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Borges Labyrinth, San Giorgio Maggiore | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens: Venice

The Borges Labyrinth celebrates the life of the great Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. It was opened in 2011 on the 25th anniversary of Borges' death, and is made up of over 3000 box plants. When seen from above, it spells out his name. After Borges died, designer Randall Coate dreamt that the best way to honour his friend was to create a labyrinth filled with symbols and references to the writer, as well as hinting at the maze-like tangle of Venice's streets and canals.

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Cathedral of St. James, Šibenik, Croatia | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens

The Old Town is dominated by the 15th century cathedral of St James, which is one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in Croatia. 74 distinctly human gargoyles run around the exterior, and are said to be the portraits of those citizens who refuse to pay towards the cost of the cathedral.

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Croatia | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens

Croatia is justly celebrated for its beautiful coastline and hundreds of islands, and has become a hugely popular holiday destination.

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Neretva Valley, Croatia | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens

The gardens of Neretva are cultivated fields separated by water, producing many types of fruits and vegetables all year round. The Neretva delta is 225km long and crosses through Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, before emptying into the Adriatic. On its way to the sea, this water feeds into these hundreds of plots, enabling them to be fertile and productive despite the summer heat and drought.

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Šibenik, Croatia | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens

Šibenik is set in a bay looking out towards some of the many islands of the Adriatic Sea. The town has a natural harbour that was important to the Venetians and remained so to the end of their republic in the closing years of the 18th century.

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Miramare Castle, Italy | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens

The Castle of Miramare is an elegant ivory-white building that stands on the tip of the karst promontory of Grignano, 10 km from the city of Trieste. Built in Istrian stone and an eclectic style, designed by Austrian engineer Carl Junker, the castle was constructed between 1856 and 1860 as the residence of Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg and his wife, Princess Charlotte of Belgium.

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Venice, Italy | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens: Venice

Venice was first inhabited about 1500 years ago by people escaping the ravaging Huns and Visigoths coming down into the Roman Empire. And they built themselves little houses on wooden piles above the muddy lagoon. It's worth remembering that the whole of the glory of Venice that you see is still built on millions of wooden piles.

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Venice, Italy | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens: Venice

Venice is the capital of the Veneto region in the north-eastern part of Italy. Although we tend to think of Venice as one place, it is in fact a collection of 118 islands in the Venetian Lagoon.

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Trieste, Italy | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens (2022)

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Opatija, Croatia | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens

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San Giorgio Monastery | Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens: Venice

For 800 years, this was the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore until Napoleon dissolved it and it gradually fell into disrepair. It was restored in 1951 by the local businessman Vittori Cini, to become a centre of art and culture in memory of his son who had been killed in a plane crash. The church and the Benedictine monastery were built in the late 16th century from designs by the famous architect Andrea Palladio.