Parco delle Cascine, Florence

Parco delle Cascine is a monumental historic park, stretched along the Arno in a long, narrow form. Its area is 160 hectares, and it reaches from Florence toward the point where the Mugnone joins the river. The park began in 1563 as a Medici farming and hunting estate, where cattle were kept and cheese was made; its name comes from an old Italian word connected with cheese.

As you look across the broad meadows and wooded spaces, you are seeing a landscape shaped for both cultivation and leisure. Trees occupy more than 35 hectares, with about 19,000 specimens, while the park’s hedges extend for about 30 kilometres. The grand architectural group at Piazzale delle Cascine includes the Palazzina Reale, designed as the heart of a model farm under Giuseppe Manetti; it now houses the University of Florence’s Faculty of Agronomy.

Nearby features include a pyramid-shaped ice house, an amphitheatre and former peacock shelters. The Narcissus Fountain carries a literary association: tradition holds that Percy Bysshe Shelley drew inspiration here for Ode to the West Wind. At the park’s edge, the Monumento all’Indiano commemorates Rajaram Chhatrapati, a young Indian prince who died during a visit to Florence in 1865.