Giardino Giusti, Verona

Behind the Verona home of Venetian diplomat Agostino Giusti is one of the best examples of an Italian Renaissance villa garden. The garden, which he designed in 1570, is distinctive in a number of respects.

This 16th-century, sculpted Renaissance gardens are immaculately maintained and intricately designed, with their grass kept as neatly trimmed as the cypress trees and box hedges. It is both relatively small and rises steeply above the home rather than rising upwards as a setting for the villa, revealing one of the best views of the city from the rooftop of the villa. With its formal parterres, hedge maze, and winding walks intended for strolling and as a shaded relief from Verona's summer heat, it is exquisitely constructed for an in-town residence. Narrow trails that wind their way through bushes and trees and climb steeply to a grotto and terrace lead to the area's wilder parts.