Giardino di Piuca extends across the historic rural terraces that characterize the Lamole area in the Florentine Chianti. The site is set between two historic buildings and also includes a local unpaved road accessible to vehicles and a pedestrian path, both part of the wider Chianti trail network. Enclosed within a regular system of dry-stone walls, the garden is crossed by a small stream flowing from the valleys of Monte San Michele, allowing water to circulate for most of the year.
The need for a restoration project arose from the conservation state of two historic washhouses within the property and sections of the dry-stone walls along the adjacent unpaved road, which also connects three other private properties and is regularly used by local residents. Over time, these elements have become overgrown and partially deteriorated due to wildlife activity as well as their age. Their preservation is essential from a landscape perspective: without intervention, and in light of increasingly severe erosive conditions linked to climate change, there would have been a real risk of losing this important historical, cultural, and hydrogeological asset.
The project aims to become part of the social, cultural, and touristic use of the area, with particular attention to the relationship between wild nature and cultivated land. By working alongside local networks that promote the territory—such as schools, trekking associations, nature and ecotourism groups, and sustainable mobility and cycling initiatives—the goal is to encourage interaction between human and natural systems through paths and activities connected to the plant world, within a setting of significant historical, naturalistic, and aesthetic value.
Two historic washhouses and an existing basin on the terraces, previously used for copper-based treatments, have been restored and repurposed as rainwater storage reservoirs. The project adopts environmentally sustainable materials and technologies, along with nature-based engineering solutions that make use of natural materials such as timber, stone, and stabilizing native herbaceous and shrub vegetation.
Visits to the garden are intended to promote cultural and environmental awareness, foster knowledge of traditional local crops, and support the observation and interpretation of the landscape.
