Jardí de Monforte, Valencia

Jardí de Monforte is a historic garden whose character comes from marble sculpture, fountains, ponds, urns and mature trees. Its design was commissioned by Juan Bautista Romero, Marquis of San Juan, and created in the nineteenth century by architect Sebastián Monleón y Estellés. The entrance leads through a pavilion to a semicircular forecourt, where philosopher busts stand on decorated iron railings.

Beyond it, a freestanding neoclassical gateway is accompanied by marble lions made by José Bellver for Madrid’s Congress of Deputies, though they were never installed there. The garden extends across about 12000 square metres and includes thirty-three marble statues drawn from Greek mythology. Among its memorable features are the nymphs Dafnis and Chloe fountain, Poseidon beside the grotto, and a drinking fountain shaped around a coiled serpent. Its artistic importance earned official recognition in 1941.