0:00:02 > 0:00:05I believe that a really good way to understand a culture
0:00:05 > 0:00:07is through its gardens.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09This is an extraordinary journey
0:00:09 > 0:00:13to visit 80 inspiring gardens from all over the world.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Some are very well known, like the Taj Mahal or the Alhambra.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22And I'm also challenging my idea of what a garden actually is.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25So I'm visiting gardens that float on the Amazon,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27a strange fantasy in the jungle,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30As well as the private homes of great designers,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33and the desert flowering in a garden.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36And wherever I go, I shall be meeting people
0:00:36 > 0:00:38that share my own passion for gardens,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40on my epic quest to see the world
0:00:40 > 0:00:44through 80 of its most fascinating and beautiful gardens.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58This week, on my journey to explore the world through its gardens,
0:00:58 > 0:01:03I'm visiting the place where, for us in Britain at least, it all began.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06This is where East met West, Christianity met Islam,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10and where Moorish and European design collided -
0:01:10 > 0:01:13the Mediterranean.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16This is the cradle of western civilisation,
0:01:16 > 0:01:20and certainly where the most enduring influences
0:01:20 > 0:01:23on all our modern gardens have evolved.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31My journey begins with the gardens of the Italian Renaissance,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34and of the Roman Empire that inspired it.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39Crossing the Mediterranean, I will visit Islamic gardens in Morocco,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42before going north over the straits of Gibraltar
0:01:42 > 0:01:45to Spain, where these two great cultures co-existed
0:01:45 > 0:01:49and where I will visit one of the truly great gardens of the world.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02From its beginnings, 750 years before the birth of Christ,
0:02:02 > 0:02:04the city of Rome grew to control a vast empire
0:02:04 > 0:02:07which dominated the whole of the Mediterranean region,
0:02:07 > 0:02:12not to say the rest of Europe, until the fifth century AD.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21But my first two gardens are to be found
0:02:21 > 0:02:24in the nearby resort of Tivoli.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Tivoli is just an hour's drive outside Rome
0:02:29 > 0:02:31and a day's journey by horse.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36And since classical times, this is where those wealthy enough to do so
0:02:36 > 0:02:38have chosen to have their holiday homes.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41This is where they retreated from the hustle and bustle of Rome.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45The climate's much kinder - the air is very sweet
0:02:45 > 0:02:48and also, it has an exceptionally good water supply.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51And that water is harnessed to stunning effect
0:02:51 > 0:02:53in my first garden -
0:02:53 > 0:02:56the Renaissance masterpiece of the Villa d'Este.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14This may seem like an insignificant side street,
0:03:14 > 0:03:17but it is in fact the main road from Rome,
0:03:17 > 0:03:19and the garden was designed to be visited
0:03:19 > 0:03:21starting from here, the bottom.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23The modern visitor isn't allowed to come through here
0:03:23 > 0:03:26but we've got permission, so I'll take you through.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33The first thing that you notice when you come in is the sound of water,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36and that is a distinct clue of what's to come.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39But in general, this entrance doesn't give much away.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44It's beautiful, it's quite grand, but it is deliberately understated.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46However, there is this big axis running down,
0:03:46 > 0:03:49with a dramatic fountain at the end.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56Turn aside from this central path
0:03:56 > 0:04:00and you will see one of the great water features...
0:04:06 > 0:04:09and another. Water is the main theme of Villa D'Este,
0:04:09 > 0:04:11and it is everywhere in the garden.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15The garden was built in the 16th century as a summer palace
0:04:15 > 0:04:17for Cardinal Ippolito d'Este,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19and its eight acres are the most perfect example
0:04:19 > 0:04:21of a High Renaissance garden.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24In order to really understand this High Renaissance garden,
0:04:24 > 0:04:28you need to go back to a book published in 1485
0:04:28 > 0:04:31by a man called Alberti, called The Books of Architecture.
0:04:31 > 0:04:32It did two things.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36One, it explained the rules of Roman and Greek design,
0:04:36 > 0:04:38which was so influential.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40And two, it made this statement -
0:04:40 > 0:04:44"Everything that nature produces is regulated by the law of harmony,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48"and her chief concern is that everything should be perfect."
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Now, this was incredibly liberating, because instead of seeing nature
0:04:52 > 0:04:55as a hostile force that you had to protect yourself against,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59you could embrace it, and use that harmony and that balance
0:04:59 > 0:05:04as an expression, and that is revealed in this garden everywhere.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07And above all, it allows that one element
0:05:07 > 0:05:11that you see in this garden, which is control.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Ippolito d'Este, the son of Lucrezia Borgia
0:05:18 > 0:05:20and a bishop from the age of two,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23was one of the wealthiest and most ambitious men of his age.
0:05:23 > 0:05:29Between 1550 and 1565, Pirro Ligorio, the papal architect,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32was hired to design and oversee the construction of his gardens.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Ligorio plundered the ruins of nearby Hadrian's Villa,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41and employed the best artists and craftsmen that money could buy.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45The garden was and is a combination of allegory,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47learning, history and design,
0:05:47 > 0:05:52and was intended to impress every visitor with its magnificence.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00The Fountains of Tivoli are probably the most important in the garden,
0:06:00 > 0:06:02because it's where the water comes in,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05and immediately it's harnessed to create jets and sprays
0:06:05 > 0:06:08and fountains. It's played with.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11The nymphaeum was a watery grotto,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14and a feature borrowed directly from Roman gardens.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Originally, visitors could walk behind this cascade
0:06:17 > 0:06:19eas a kind of a watery game.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26This is very ornate, but it is very slippery,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29so I can see why the public isn't allowed in.
0:06:29 > 0:06:36But it is extraordinary to feel the power of the water falling.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54The people watching us filming can have no idea
0:06:54 > 0:06:57of the intensity and power of this water
0:06:57 > 0:07:01that's coursing through the veins of this garden.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09The garden is an extraordinary feat of hydraulic pyrotechnics,
0:07:09 > 0:07:13and I asked the garden's technical assistant how it all worked.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18Does it need pumps to make it work, or is it...how is it fed?
0:07:18 > 0:07:21TRANSLATION: There are no pumps in this garden,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23as every fountain is gravity-fed.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26They all function at the same time,
0:07:26 > 0:07:32and the water flows at about 500 litres per second.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35This hydraulic system is still the original one,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39and although some repairs have been made in the past,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42every single part is faithful to the original.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49'The hundreds of water features are all fed by the local river,
0:07:49 > 0:07:53'and controlled by 300 sluice gates.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57'Francisco shows me how this wheel can turn off the enormous fountain
0:07:57 > 0:07:58'of the organ on the lower terrace.'
0:07:58 > 0:08:02- OK.- Ready.- Is it stiff?
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Coming off? Right. OK.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13It takes almost four minutes for the water to clear
0:08:13 > 0:08:14from the tallest spouts...
0:08:18 > 0:08:21and just as long to get it going again.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26While most of the fountains were intended to impress,
0:08:26 > 0:08:30one was designed as a Renaissance joke.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32The Fountain of the Owl soaks onlookers
0:08:32 > 0:08:36when they inadvertently tread upon a hidden button on the ground.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43This is the Walk of a Hundred Fountains,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47and it's made out of three canals tiered on top of each other,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50running along a 130 metre terrace.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00This is not just a horticultural masterpiece.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03It is also intended to represent the canal
0:09:03 > 0:09:05that flows from Tivoli to Rome,
0:09:05 > 0:09:09a direct metaphor for the Cardinal's intense ambition
0:09:09 > 0:09:11for the papal throne at Rome.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16And I think it's one of the loveliest things
0:09:16 > 0:09:19that I've ever seen in a garden, anywhere in the world.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25The Renaissance drew its inspiration
0:09:25 > 0:09:28from the Rome of over 1,000 years earlier,
0:09:28 > 0:09:29the Rome of the classical era.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Indeed, many of Villa d'Este's statues
0:09:32 > 0:09:34were looted from nearby Roman sites.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47The visitor finally arrives at the top of the garden,
0:09:47 > 0:09:51a little weary, and certainly overcome
0:09:51 > 0:09:56with the splendour and the power expressed through this garden.
0:09:56 > 0:09:57You then turn to look over it,
0:09:57 > 0:10:00and what you see is not just the garden,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03but the landscape stretching as far as the eye can see,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06and you realise the man that has made this
0:10:06 > 0:10:08has control over the whole lot.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11This garden is all about power.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15But it's worth remembering that the man who made it, Cardinal d'Este,
0:10:15 > 0:10:19never attained the power that he craved.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21He never became Pope.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25But what he did do was leave a legacy through his garden
0:10:25 > 0:10:28that has endured for centuries.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37My next garden is only a mile or two away down the hillside,
0:10:37 > 0:10:42although to get to it, I have to go back 1,500 years in time.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03Villa Adriana, or Hadrian's Villa,
0:11:03 > 0:11:07was built in the beginning of the second century
0:11:07 > 0:11:08by the Emperor Hadrian,
0:11:08 > 0:11:10when the Roman Empire was at its absolute peak,
0:11:10 > 0:11:14and above all, it's an expression of imperial power.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17It's also a marvellous example of classical design that's gone on
0:11:17 > 0:11:21to influence gardens and buildings, right to the present day.
0:11:25 > 0:11:31Hadrian ruled as emperor for 21 years, from 117 to 138 AD.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33His power and wealth were unmatchable.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38On a personal level, he was learned, and patronised all the arts.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41He built libraries, aqueducts, baths and theatres,
0:11:41 > 0:11:45and is said to have had an active role in designing this villa.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47More than half his reign was spent outside Italy,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49travelling through the empire.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53He visited Britain and initiated the building of Hadrian's Wall.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Influences from these travels, especially from Egypt
0:11:55 > 0:11:59and the cult of the god Serapis, are found running through the site.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01However, there is no doubt
0:12:01 > 0:12:05that it looks more like an archaeological site than a garden.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08The visitor sees the bare bones of the garden,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11and broken bones at that.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20I confess that I'm having trouble grasping the enormity of the site.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24It's apparently over 280 acres big.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26And not all of it has been excavated,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29but what there is is just massive.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32It's wrong, really, to think of it as a villa. It's a summer palace,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36built by the richest and most powerful man in the world,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40at the head of the largest empire that the world had ever seen.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48And Hadrian drew on all the immense practicality and expertise
0:12:48 > 0:12:51that made the Roman Empire so remorselessly efficient
0:12:51 > 0:12:53when he made the palace.
0:12:53 > 0:12:59A complicated hydraulic system was set up to create this serapeum, which was a temple,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02dedicated to the Graeco-Egyptian god of the underworld, Serapis,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06and would have provided a liquid firework display
0:13:06 > 0:13:08which must have resembled the nymphaeum
0:13:08 > 0:13:10which it directly inspired at Villa d'Este.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16Water would gush out of the sides and swirl around the diners' feet,
0:13:16 > 0:13:20and then, best of all, another curtain would fall
0:13:20 > 0:13:22in front of these columns.
0:13:22 > 0:13:29Now, this incredibly sophisticated use of hydro-engineering
0:13:29 > 0:13:32set a pattern that the Arabs picked up on 500 years later,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36and Renaissance gardens used 1,500 years later.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41But none of them ever surpassed it in technique or mastery.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49Another common feature which the Romans adopted from the Greeks
0:13:49 > 0:13:51was the peristyle garden, which featured a building
0:13:51 > 0:13:56wrapping itself around an inner courtyard, usually with a pool in the centre,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00and a covered, colonnaded walkway around that.
0:14:00 > 0:14:05The Pecali at Hadrian's Villa was originally just such a garden.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15Although this area was based upon the Athenian market place
0:14:15 > 0:14:18where people could stroll and chat,
0:14:18 > 0:14:21it actually was designed as an exercise yard.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24All round it was this enormous high wall, which was covered over,
0:14:24 > 0:14:27and then there were columns, marked by the bay trees.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30In the 18th century, they discovered an inscription
0:14:30 > 0:14:34which said it was exactly 429 metres around.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Multiplied by seven gave you two Roman miles,
0:14:37 > 0:14:39which was the perfect amount of exercise,
0:14:39 > 0:14:41as decreed by Roman doctors.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43So you get an insight into the Roman mind.
0:14:43 > 0:14:49Amidst the splendour of the palace is this ruthless practicality.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54With its integration of interior and exterior spaces,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56architecture, the use of water,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00and of classical mythology and symbolism in buildings and statues,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Hadrian's villa provided a model for Renaissance gardens
0:15:04 > 0:15:08that drew heavily upon ancient Rome for its sources and influences.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10But after the fall of the Roman Empire,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12Villa Adriana was left to crumble
0:15:12 > 0:15:15as Europe descended into the Dark Ages,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18and it was plundered down the centuries
0:15:18 > 0:15:20for its statues and stones.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24But even though it's a ruin now, there is a lingering essence
0:15:24 > 0:15:29that transforms it into an unlikely, but truly magical garden.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34Before I leave Tivoli and its two huge, magnificent gardens,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37I've noticed what look like allotments
0:15:37 > 0:15:38at the bottom of the hill.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41I can't resist a quick detour to visit them.
0:15:44 > 0:15:49'This is Elio Bernarelli, who has been gardening on this plot
0:15:49 > 0:15:52'at the foot of the Tivoli waterfall for 25 years,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54'and it's where he grows all his fruit and veg.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00'Elio grows everything organically,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03'and it all looks lustrously appetising.'
0:16:03 > 0:16:05There are grapes and poultry on his plot too,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09and since my Italian is limited to ordering a cappucino,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12we communicate through the language of vegetables.
0:16:12 > 0:16:13- Aubergine.- Si.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17And what sort of tomato is that?
0:16:19 > 0:16:23- Un pantano.- Un pantano.- Pantano.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25- And this?- Sanmanzano.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29Sanmanzano. I grow sanmanzano too.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33But mine are smaller, much smaller. Oh, well!
0:16:37 > 0:16:40- Verza.- See, that is superb.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46- Parsley.- Prezzemolo. - We say "parsley." Say "parsley."
0:16:46 > 0:16:49- Parsley.- Parsley. There you are, you see, you're a star.
0:16:49 > 0:16:55TRANSLATION: We manage to grow almost everything we need for the family.
0:16:55 > 0:17:01Instead of going to the pub, I prefer to come here for fun.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03When I'm here, I feel like a king.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Elio's vineyard is about three quarters of an acre,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12and it's planted with two types of grapes,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15one of which I'd never seen before.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18TRANSLATION: These are pizzutello grapes,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21that were brought here by Villa d'Este
0:17:21 > 0:17:27as an ornamental plant. And it's good to eat as well.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Elio also grows grapes for wine making.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36From a single row, he can produce enough fruit
0:17:36 > 0:17:39to make up to 500 litres of home-made wine.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42He was very keen for me to try some of last year's vintage
0:17:42 > 0:17:45with some of his friends, back at his shed.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49- Chin chin...- Salute!
0:17:52 > 0:17:56'As the sun set, we ate local cheese,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00'and tomatoes still warm from the sun that ripened them,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03'all washed down with lots of Elio's wine.'
0:18:03 > 0:18:05Fantastic!
0:18:08 > 0:18:11No emperor or cardinal ever feasted better.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22The next day, I drive on up to Bagnaia,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25an impossibly picturesque medieval town north of Rome.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29On a bright summer's day, the streets are flawlessly beautiful,
0:18:29 > 0:18:33and decked with carefully tended flowers.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Although it's tempting to spend the day mooching about,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40I am visiting for a specific reason.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43I'm here in Bagnaia, for my next garden.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Not just because it is exquisitely beautiful
0:18:46 > 0:18:50and worth the trip to Italy just to see this alone,
0:18:50 > 0:18:56but also because for me, this is the perfect Renaissance garden.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04During the Italian Renaissance,
0:19:04 > 0:19:07a beautiful country villa was not just a retreat,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10but also a potent expression of status.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13And like Villa d'Este, this garden was created
0:19:13 > 0:19:15by an ambitious cardinal, Cardinal Gambara,
0:19:15 > 0:19:20who was granted the villa in 1560 by Pope Pius V.
0:19:20 > 0:19:25Gambara then commissioned one of the great architects of the 16th century,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Giacomo Vignola, to redesign his summer retreat.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Nowadays, we often rather glibly refer to a "Renaissance Man",
0:19:32 > 0:19:34but Vignola was the real thing,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37and could just as readily carve a marble statue
0:19:37 > 0:19:40as draw up the plans for a building or a garden.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48As you come in, you are met with the very dramatic Fountain of Pegasus,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50and this sets the tone for the whole of the garden.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53You've got massive use of stonework,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56really playful, inventive handling of water.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59It's set in a woodland background. And there's one other crucial thing
0:19:59 > 0:20:02that runs right through the rest of the garden,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05and that's the classical allegory.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08Pegasus, the winged horse, comes down to the ground.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13And where its hoof touches the rock, there is a spark of creativity.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Heading up the hill, you go through a wooded parkland,
0:20:22 > 0:20:24where the public can stroll and play.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27This is the Bosco, an area that represents wild nature,
0:20:27 > 0:20:29albeit still carefully controlled.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31Many scholars believe that the Bosco
0:20:31 > 0:20:34was a direct influence and predecessor
0:20:34 > 0:20:37of the English landscape movement, 200 years later.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44From the Fountain of Pegasus, the path takes you up through the wood
0:20:44 > 0:20:48to the top of the garden, and it's important to see the garden
0:20:48 > 0:20:51from the top, working down. It's a journey.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58The combination of classical building,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01a loggia with its columns and woodland,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05is not so strange if you consider the Renaissance mind,
0:21:05 > 0:21:08where it absorbs the wild, natural world
0:21:08 > 0:21:11into philosophy and art, and design and literature,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13and feels that it can control it.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16It can rationalise it into something safe and beautiful.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18If you think of Britain at that time,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21when Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer Night's Dream,
0:21:21 > 0:21:25the wood is dangerous and magical, and potentially really scary.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29But here, you go from woodland and using classical imagery,
0:21:29 > 0:21:31and make a garden.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38Fantastic.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43This is the Fountain of the Deluge.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48And it refers both to rain, which is the source of all water,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51and also the Flood, in the Bible.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56And the water itself just looks stunning.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01The design is organised along a central axis,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03which is emphasised by the fountains and water courses
0:22:03 > 0:22:05arranged in perfect symmetry.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08And the garden only has one route down.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10Follow the water.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Flowing down the middle of a flight of steps is the Water Chain,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18a cascade that runs down in a series of swirling stone arabesques
0:22:18 > 0:22:23before it tumbles out over a massive carved head of a crayfish,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26the emblem of Cardinal Gambara.
0:22:26 > 0:22:31The water then pours into the large basin of the Fountain of Giants,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34where two huge stone figures recline,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37representing the two great rivers of the Tiber and the Arno,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40which in turn symbolise the friendship
0:22:40 > 0:22:43between the Papacy in Rome and the Medici family in Florence.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47And this is a symbolic reference that any educated Renaissance visitor
0:22:47 > 0:22:49would have immediately spotted.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55'The water then continues, amazingly,
0:22:55 > 0:23:00'down the centre of this huge stone table, which is over 50ft long
0:23:00 > 0:23:04'and designed specifically for al fresco entertainment.'
0:23:07 > 0:23:11This dining table is the most fantastic object here in the whole garden.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16Over 50ft long, could have had hundreds of guests here of the Cardinal.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20And in the middle of it is this canal,
0:23:20 > 0:23:25and it's icy cold. Now this is a hot July afternoon here,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28it's a really warm day, and yet it's cool water.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32The wine could be kept cool there, dishes would float and keep cool on the water.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35And at the feet is another canal running,
0:23:35 > 0:23:37and that would give the air coolness and moisture
0:23:37 > 0:23:40and you could dibble your toes in there if you so wished.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49Finally, the garden arrives at this.
0:23:49 > 0:23:54From the wildness of the wood, we have complete formality.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58Man is finally in control of nature.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10Vignola created an untroubled transition
0:24:10 > 0:24:12from the informality of the Bosco
0:24:12 > 0:24:16to the perfect geometry of the formal parterre,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19which consists of 16 squares of clipped box and yew
0:24:19 > 0:24:24with coloured gravel, centred around the final large fountain,
0:24:24 > 0:24:25the Fountain of the Moors,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28which is in the middle of a large, square pool.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32This parterre might seem like many others that can be seen attached
0:24:32 > 0:24:34to grand buildings across Europe,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36but in fact, it is amongst the first ever made,
0:24:36 > 0:24:40and is the balanced, harmonious culmination of the garden,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43with the town butting up to the wall at its edge,
0:24:43 > 0:24:48ready to receive the water, now that the garden has finished with it.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52Villa Lante is a masterpiece, setting the tone for almost all
0:24:52 > 0:24:54that has followed in Northern European gardens,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57right up to the present day.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01But now it's time to leave it and continue my journey.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04From Italy, my next destination is Marrakech, in Morocco,
0:25:04 > 0:25:08to visit the gardens of another great Mediterranean civilisation
0:25:08 > 0:25:11that has also had a fundamental influence
0:25:11 > 0:25:13on the way that we still garden in the western world.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18In the foothills of the Atlas mountains,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21and fully 100 miles from the coast,
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Marrakech might seem an odd destination
0:25:23 > 0:25:26for an exploration of Mediterranean gardens.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30But Islam had a huge influence on the gardens of the rest of Europe,
0:25:30 > 0:25:32especially those of Spain.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37The city was founded in 1062 by the Almoravid dynasty
0:25:37 > 0:25:40that came from the Middle East to conquer the native Berbers.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44From its inception, Marrakech was a city of gardens,
0:25:44 > 0:25:47and today, on the edge of the modern city, remains an immense orchard
0:25:47 > 0:25:51of nearly 1,000 acres, which can reasonably claim
0:25:51 > 0:25:55to be one of the oldest intact gardens of the world.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10This is the Aguedal, the royal garden here in Marrakech,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13and it's one of the main reasons that I've come to Morocco.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18It's the oldest untouched Arab garden in the entire world, and it's immense -
0:26:18 > 0:26:20a huge garden.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23And the gardeners go about their business riding bicycles.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27So, I've taken a leaf out of that book, and that's how I'll get about.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35I have privileged access to explore the Aguedal,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37which is owned by the King of Morocco.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41It was created in the 12th century and has hardly changed since.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44It is composed of a series of orchards, producing figs,
0:26:44 > 0:26:49citrus, dates, pomegranates, almonds, apricots, and olives.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52The first thing you see about this garden
0:26:52 > 0:26:58is it challenges your whole conception of what a garden is,
0:26:58 > 0:27:03when a garden is a farm or a garden is a bit of landscape.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06But even that is trying to fit it into a sort of westernised slot.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11The fact is, this is a garden, so one has to get used to that idea.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14You have to abandon the European concept
0:27:14 > 0:27:17of what a garden should or should not be.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19Here, function has beauty.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23Water has intrinsic beauty, but even more so as it nurtures growth.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27Blossom is beautiful in itself, but also as the precursor of fruit.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Everything in the garden has a usefulness
0:27:30 > 0:27:34that enhances its aesthetic attraction.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37These oranges, which would have been here in some form or other
0:27:37 > 0:27:41for 1,000 years - not the same trees but definitely citrus here -
0:27:41 > 0:27:45will have flowers that smell fantastic as you pass.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47But they'll also be gathered to be used in cooking,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51and also preparing your hands to wash before you eat.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54So this boundary between what's useful
0:27:54 > 0:27:58and what is simply delightful, just doesn't exist.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Whoops!
0:28:01 > 0:28:04To tell me the story of this garden, I wanted to speak to someone
0:28:04 > 0:28:10who is an expert on the gardening culture of Morocco's Islamic past.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14TRANSLATION: From Spain to India, from the Alhambra to the Taj Mahal,
0:28:14 > 0:28:19this is the oldest unrestored 12th century garden in existence.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22Of course, the garden has changed over time -
0:28:22 > 0:28:24the trees and vegetation are different.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27You can't expect to have eighth or ninth century plants today.
0:28:27 > 0:28:33But it is interesting that its style, design and irrigation system are all original.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40Around the Aguedal is a beautiful wall of peach-coloured mud
0:28:40 > 0:28:43that runs for almost eight miles.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47This is typically Islamic in that, although fortified,
0:28:47 > 0:28:50it is modest and plain, and doesn't hint
0:28:50 > 0:28:53at the richness of fruit and water within.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Ah yes, water - for in the centre of the orchard is a vast expanse
0:28:57 > 0:29:01of the most valued element of all Islamic gardens - water.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03Mohammed, this is...staggering!
0:29:03 > 0:29:06TRANSLATION: The lake has many functions -
0:29:06 > 0:29:09primarily, it irrigates the garden's 500 hectares.
0:29:09 > 0:29:13Secondly, it provided drinking water for Marrakech in the 12th century.
0:29:13 > 0:29:14The water was really clear then.
0:29:14 > 0:29:19But it was also used by the ruler's troops, to learn how to swim.
0:29:19 > 0:29:24At that time, the Almohad Empire straddled Morocco and Andalusia,
0:29:24 > 0:29:28and the soldiers had to cross the Mediterranean Sea to get to Spain,
0:29:28 > 0:29:32so it would have been very dangerous not to know how to swim.
0:29:34 > 0:29:39The water for it, in this parched desert country,
0:29:39 > 0:29:41is bought in via subterranean canals
0:29:41 > 0:29:44from the Atlas mountains, 15 miles away.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48These canals were made nearly 1,000 years ago,
0:29:48 > 0:29:51and still work, unchanged, exactly as built.
0:29:51 > 0:29:56I think this is one of the great gardens of the world.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59It's partly because it blows apart my conceptions
0:29:59 > 0:30:05of what a garden should or could be. And that takes me into the heart
0:30:05 > 0:30:08of the Islamic and Arabic view of the world and gardens,
0:30:08 > 0:30:12and that's fascinating. Also because the engineering,
0:30:12 > 0:30:17the feat of just making it 1,000 years ago, is mind-boggling.
0:30:17 > 0:30:22And, after 1,000 years, it's simply just beautiful.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36I go back to the centre of Marrakech and to a new hotel,
0:30:36 > 0:30:39which is a riad in the heart of the Medina,
0:30:39 > 0:30:42the old city of Marrakech. These can be a bit tricky to find,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45but many of the riads of the Medina still have a garden.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51What's fantastic about Marrakech
0:30:51 > 0:30:54is that if your boundaries were really Calais
0:30:54 > 0:31:01and a few points south, you're suddenly confronted with real foreignness.
0:31:01 > 0:31:08All the faces and the smells and the life on the street
0:31:08 > 0:31:10and people making things and fixing them
0:31:10 > 0:31:16in a way that is challenging at every turn, and beautiful.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21Then the streets get too narrow and my taxi can go no further,
0:31:21 > 0:31:24so my luggage and I continue on foot.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26I don't know where we're going!
0:31:29 > 0:31:31Welcome to Marrakech!
0:31:47 > 0:31:50A riad is a traditional Arabic house,
0:31:50 > 0:31:53closed off from the street and built round a garden.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57Bonjour. Bonjour. Ca va tres bien.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03'Today, many in Marrakesh have been converted into boutique hotels.'
0:32:05 > 0:32:08A-ha! This is very beautiful. This is lovely.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10Yes. It's a small paradise.
0:32:10 > 0:32:15It's...it's quite a big paradise! Or at least, paradise big enough.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18They're known as the secret gardens of Marrakech,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21because they're invariably concealed from the outside gaze
0:32:21 > 0:32:23behind modest entrances.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26In Islam, any display of opulence or wealth
0:32:26 > 0:32:30wouldn't only be arrogant, but might also diminish your neighbour,
0:32:30 > 0:32:36so the exteriors are always low-key, and the interiors private.
0:32:36 > 0:32:41It's always...shocking is what I was going to say, but it's not unpleasant, it's wonderful.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44It's astonishing that you come out of these little streets,
0:32:44 > 0:32:48which are thronged with people and noise and strangeness,
0:32:48 > 0:32:53into this calm greenness. And listen...
0:32:53 > 0:32:55BIRDS CHIRP
0:32:55 > 0:32:59You could be in the middle of the English countryside.
0:33:03 > 0:33:05Islamic houses are built back to back,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08with thick walls and few windows.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11This keeps them cool, with the light coming from the cloistered garden,
0:33:11 > 0:33:15which is the real focus of the Moroccan domestic life,
0:33:15 > 0:33:19where the family gathers, eats, cooks, and of course, grows food.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25The courtyards are enclosed,
0:33:25 > 0:33:28but the roof provides a private space
0:33:28 > 0:33:32with a public view over the Medina.
0:33:41 > 0:33:47As the sun sets, the call to prayer echoes round the city.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50The baking heat of the day cools, and I go for a walk
0:33:50 > 0:33:54out onto the streets, to the Djemaa el Fna,
0:33:54 > 0:33:56the city's main square.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59Inevitably, tourists like myself are obvious targets for locals
0:33:59 > 0:34:01touting their various wares.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice is refreshing, nonetheless.
0:34:09 > 0:34:10Very good.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29Next morning, I'm up and out bright and early.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37From when Marrakech was founded in the 11th century,
0:34:37 > 0:34:39right up until the 1920s,
0:34:39 > 0:34:43two thirds of the Medina was given over to orchards and gardens.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46But in 1912, Morocco became a protectorate of France,
0:34:46 > 0:34:48and the orchard gardens rapidly declined
0:34:48 > 0:34:50as the green spaces were built on.
0:34:53 > 0:34:58However, there were new gardens made, and none more famously
0:34:58 > 0:35:03than this one, which was created by the painter, Jacques Majorelle.
0:35:03 > 0:35:05He came to Morocco in 1917 for his health,
0:35:05 > 0:35:08and over the course of the next couple of decades,
0:35:08 > 0:35:11made this completely unique garden.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21The Majorelle Garden is a relic from the 1920s and '30s,
0:35:21 > 0:35:25when the French influence was at its peak in Marrakech.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28Wealthy, liberal bohemians came to the city
0:35:28 > 0:35:32for its sun, culture and frankly relaxed attitude to sexual behaviour.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42Many Europeans settled here and built themselves villas,
0:35:42 > 0:35:47often combining local Berber and contemporary European art deco design.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52Here at Majorelle, this was not so much a meeting of two cultures,
0:35:52 > 0:35:53as a collision.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58And out of it was created a work of art unique in Morocco,
0:35:58 > 0:36:00and possibly in the whole world.
0:36:00 > 0:36:06And it completely revolutionised the way that we think about using colour in gardens.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12Majorelle had one extraordinary dramatic idea.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16He took this blue, which he found on Moroccan tiles and on Berber houses,
0:36:16 > 0:36:19and then applied it in the most dramatic way possible,
0:36:19 > 0:36:21so that it dominates the garden.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25Everything else, all the planting, is set against this blue backdrop.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30And it is for this idea above all
0:36:30 > 0:36:33that the Majorelle has a place in garden design history.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39Now, this garden is not just an explosion of blue,
0:36:39 > 0:36:42it's full of the most extraordinary plants,
0:36:42 > 0:36:45combining colours and textures and forms,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47that just are riveting.
0:36:47 > 0:36:52Especially these extraordinary palms, that just soar up to the sky.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56And this is because Majorelle was a fanatical plantsman.
0:37:00 > 0:37:06He was an obsessive plant collector, specialising in cacti and succulents and palms,
0:37:06 > 0:37:08all of which still dominate the garden.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12At one point, the garden covered ten acres
0:37:12 > 0:37:15with more than 1,800 varieties of plants,
0:37:15 > 0:37:17including 400 varieties of palms.
0:37:17 > 0:37:22I confess that the two words "plant" and "collection" usually fill me with dread.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24They rarely make good gardens.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27But Majorelle is the exception that proves that rule.
0:37:27 > 0:37:33When Majorelle died in 1962, the garden was more or less abandoned.
0:37:33 > 0:37:38But In 1981, the French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge
0:37:38 > 0:37:42bought the garden and restored a good chunk of it to its original condition,
0:37:42 > 0:37:45to immortalise Majorelle's creation.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49This is his masterpiece and he has a painterly eye everywhere.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51Nothing's natural.
0:37:51 > 0:37:56Every detail is contrived, but it feels exactly right.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00It's time to leave Marrakech
0:38:00 > 0:38:03and head for my next destination in southern Spain.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08Travelling in French colonial style,
0:38:08 > 0:38:13I catch a night ride on the Marrakech Express to Tangiers.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17It was built in the 1920s, to transport the French Foreign Legion,
0:38:17 > 0:38:20but these days, it carries an eclectic mix of travellers.
0:38:22 > 0:38:27Six... Right. Cosy.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35As I sleep, surprisingly soundly,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38the train takes me north to the port of Tangiers,
0:38:38 > 0:38:41where I'll cross the Mediterranean to Spain,
0:38:41 > 0:38:45heading first to Granada and the fabulous garden of the Alhambra.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53By daybreak, we've reached Tangiers,
0:38:53 > 0:38:58where I catch the hydrofoil across the straits of Gibraltar
0:38:58 > 0:39:00linking Africa and Europe.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05At this point, there was supposed to be a shot
0:39:05 > 0:39:07where I was to tell you the significance
0:39:07 > 0:39:11of this brief 45 minute trip between the two continents.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14But the straits are famous for being choppy,
0:39:14 > 0:39:16and I'm a landlubber through and through,
0:39:16 > 0:39:19and the reality was that I spent most of the trip
0:39:19 > 0:39:22with my head over the rail, donating my breakfast to the fishes
0:39:22 > 0:39:26and quite unable to do more than stare silently at the horizon.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37The Moors, so-called because they came from Mauritania,
0:39:37 > 0:39:39the name the Romans gave to modern Morocco,
0:39:39 > 0:39:43took the same route that I've just endured and invaded Spain in 711,
0:39:43 > 0:39:47and the whole of Spain and modern Portugal was under Muslim rule
0:39:47 > 0:39:49by the 10th century.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Islam dominated Spain for nearly 700 years,
0:39:52 > 0:39:55which is longer than Christianity has done since.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58It was a highly tolerant, civilised society,
0:39:58 > 0:40:02where Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities peacefully co-existed
0:40:02 > 0:40:06and gardens were an important part of the culture.
0:40:06 > 0:40:11I'm here to visit the last great surviving garden of that period, The Alhambra.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18This plain, fortified, rather austere gateway
0:40:18 > 0:40:22is typical of the Islamic approach to palaces and gardens,
0:40:22 > 0:40:24but doesn't even hint at the treasures inside.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28The Alhambra is truly one of the great gardens of the world.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32It's one I know a little bit - I once spent four days and nights within its walls,
0:40:32 > 0:40:34and yet I haven't exhausted its treasures.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38You can see - there are thousands, millions of people who visit here every year.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42And certainly, if you want to understand how the Islamic mind
0:40:42 > 0:40:46has changed the whole way that Europeans garden,
0:40:46 > 0:40:48then you have to come here.
0:40:59 > 0:41:06The Alhambra is the oldest extant Arabian palace garden in the world.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08Rather than one coherent garden,
0:41:08 > 0:41:12it is an integrated complex of palace buildings and gardens,
0:41:12 > 0:41:15perched on top of 35 acres of hillside.
0:41:15 > 0:41:22It was originally built during the Nasrid dynasty by Sultan Mohammed,
0:41:22 > 0:41:24who ruled Granada from 1238.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26What we now see in the Alhambra
0:41:26 > 0:41:30consolidates 600 years of Islamic-European culture.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32In traditional Islamic style,
0:41:32 > 0:41:35it was intended to be an earthly paradise,
0:41:35 > 0:41:40a mirror of heaven, based upon ancient Persian gardening principles
0:41:40 > 0:41:42of water, symmetry and enclosed spaces.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55Water, either gently moving or in reflective pools,
0:41:55 > 0:41:58is always the core of any Islamic garden.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02The surface mirrors the perfect poise and symmetry of the buildings
0:42:02 > 0:42:06and planting, as well as catching light and throwing it up
0:42:06 > 0:42:09into the cool but dark courtyards.
0:42:10 > 0:42:14Inside the dark buildings, the ornate richness is staggering.
0:42:14 > 0:42:20Outside, the luxury is one of coolness, privacy, light and water.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22This is the Court of the Myrtles,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25where the only plant is myrtle in long hedges,
0:42:25 > 0:42:27cut at the perfect height to brush your hands along
0:42:27 > 0:42:32and so be trailed by its deliciously musky scent.
0:42:32 > 0:42:39And if you can imagine, from these windows you would have, maybe, tapestries hanging, carpets.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43This very clean and simple space would have also had silks
0:42:43 > 0:42:47and cushions, and gorgeously dressed people.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50And this was a court in the true sense.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53The timing of the buildings,
0:42:53 > 0:42:57mainly from the middle of the 13th century to the middle of the 14th,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00coincides with the development of irrigation,
0:43:00 > 0:43:02and are an expression of the way that water,
0:43:02 > 0:43:06in this harshly arid region, can be harnessed for pleasure.
0:43:06 > 0:43:10The water here, in all its guises, is a display of wealth
0:43:10 > 0:43:14that couldn't be more impressive had it been molten gold.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18The highest point of the Alhambra is the Generalife,
0:43:18 > 0:43:22the summer hunting lodge where the Sultan could escape
0:43:22 > 0:43:24the intrigue of court.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27This is the Patio of the Canals.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30Ironically, the avenue of water spouts,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33probably the most famous feature of the entire Alhambra,
0:43:33 > 0:43:35is unlikely to be an original Moorish feature,
0:43:35 > 0:43:38because it would have been too noisy,
0:43:38 > 0:43:43and competed with the gentle music playing for the Sultan's pleasure.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47But the water stairway on the steps up to the mosque is original,
0:43:47 > 0:43:51and is unchanged since it was built in the 14th century.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54The water runs down the banisters along these steps.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57Originally, it would have run down the middle too.
0:43:57 > 0:44:02And instantly, you're in a sort of cool, slightly damp, green tunnel.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05It's lovely. It feels really refreshing after the baking heat.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07It actually had a more serious purpose,
0:44:07 > 0:44:10because these steps led to the oratory,
0:44:10 > 0:44:12and the idea was, you would wash yourself
0:44:12 > 0:44:14and prepare yourself before prayer.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17And it's so typical that you get this combination
0:44:17 > 0:44:21of the sacred and the sensuous, all in a garden.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28The whole of Spain was gradually reclaimed
0:44:28 > 0:44:31by Christian crusaders, until, in 1492,
0:44:31 > 0:44:34the Alhambra was the last Islamic outpost to fall
0:44:34 > 0:44:39and the last of the Moorish rulers, Boabdil, was driven out of Spain.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42But it survives as a glorious monument
0:44:42 > 0:44:47to one of Europe's greatest, and perhaps least appreciated, cultural heritages.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51Another Spanish city founded deep in Moorish culture
0:44:51 > 0:44:55is Cordoba, 60 miles north of Grenada.
0:44:55 > 0:44:56I've timed my visit here
0:44:56 > 0:45:00to coincide with the annual festival of patio gardens.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07In 1236, Cordoba was recaptured by the Catholics.
0:45:07 > 0:45:12The remaining Arab population fled to the Moorish stronghold of Granada,
0:45:12 > 0:45:14ruled from the Alhambra.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17There are reports from the 10th century Moorish Cordoba
0:45:17 > 0:45:19of thousands of gardens in and around the city.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24There are still many there today, and the chief feature of them
0:45:24 > 0:45:27is that they are patio or courtyard gardens.
0:45:34 > 0:45:36For two weeks every May,
0:45:36 > 0:45:38the city celebrates the Festival of the Patios,
0:45:38 > 0:45:41where hundreds of people open up their homes
0:45:41 > 0:45:43to show off their gardens.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46The idea is for people to walk around the city,
0:45:46 > 0:45:48visiting as many patios as possible.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51Houses marked with two cypress trees
0:45:51 > 0:45:54indicate that anyone can walk in and take a look.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58Some of the patios are small and intimate, others are grand.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00All are decked out in floral finery,
0:46:00 > 0:46:04with the plants almost entirely in pots.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08In the sweltering heat, these need watering at least twice a day,
0:46:08 > 0:46:12and every patio has a well that supplies water for the plants,
0:46:12 > 0:46:14which is good enough to drink.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17That is, if first you can get it in your mouth.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23OK...OK.
0:46:23 > 0:46:28Now, you know I'm about to put water over most of my front. OK?
0:46:31 > 0:46:34WOMAN LAUGHS
0:46:34 > 0:46:37Very good!
0:46:41 > 0:46:45Classic Cordoba pot.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48It's got the flat back. It's fantastic.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50Cordoba was an industrial city,
0:46:50 > 0:46:53and as people came from the countryside looking for work,
0:46:53 > 0:46:56families would occupy a room or two of the large, square buildings
0:46:56 > 0:46:59built around courtyards on three or four floors.
0:46:59 > 0:47:04The patios became communal living spaces, where people washed, ate and entertained each other.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07They also became communal gardens
0:47:07 > 0:47:10with a few plants, nearly always in pots.
0:47:10 > 0:47:15In the late 20th century, these communal buildings became rarer
0:47:15 > 0:47:17as Spain became more affluent,
0:47:17 > 0:47:21and more people could afford to live in self-contained homes.
0:47:21 > 0:47:23But many still treat the courtyard as their garden,
0:47:23 > 0:47:26and spend an important part of their lives in there.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29I've been invited to visit a group of people
0:47:29 > 0:47:33who still share their communal living space.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40- Hola!- Hello!- Hello.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44Come in.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47Bueno. Este es el patio.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51It's beautiful! It's extraordinary, and it's beautiful.
0:48:03 > 0:48:07- You're drinking, eating, having a nice time.- That's right.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10- Yeah.- Sit down.- OK. Yeah, I'm very happy to join you.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12So, who does the work?
0:48:12 > 0:48:15- Who looks after it? - Well, I think, everybody.
0:48:15 > 0:48:20You're retaining the traditions of communal living,
0:48:20 > 0:48:22of sharing the space.
0:48:22 > 0:48:28We met, you know, in a renting place, in a...in a block of flats.
0:48:28 > 0:48:33Five people decided to buy a place, you know,
0:48:33 > 0:48:39where they can be together. So we meet, we cook, we drink.
0:48:39 > 0:48:40So we have fun.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45Everyone looks after their own doorstep
0:48:45 > 0:48:49and their own bit of wall, but each year, they communally agree
0:48:49 > 0:48:52on a scheme to give the patio one cohesive design.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57How do you decide the sort of artistic decisions?
0:48:57 > 0:49:02- I mean, for example, who decided to put that rose up the tree? - You have to negotiate a little bit.
0:49:02 > 0:49:04But it works, doesn't it?
0:49:04 > 0:49:07And it's a very nice feeling, sitting here.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09It feels like a good space to be in.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13We don't plan to...to make up, you know, a paradise,
0:49:13 > 0:49:15but, in the end, you know, it is.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20MUSIC AND SINGING
0:49:24 > 0:49:27We eat and drink very well, but this is Spain,
0:49:27 > 0:49:30and by midnight, the night is just beginning.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33The streets are full of people looking for a party
0:49:33 > 0:49:36and, amazingly, still looking for gardens to visit.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53Having spent all day visiting patios here in Cordoba,
0:49:53 > 0:49:55I have no hesitation in thinking
0:49:55 > 0:49:59that they are one of the great gardens of the world,
0:49:59 > 0:50:03gardens where people live and eat and work,
0:50:03 > 0:50:08and of seeing where they party and party really well.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12That seems to me a complete celebration of gardening.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15These are special.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26PEOPLE SING
0:50:29 > 0:50:31After a few hours' sleep,
0:50:31 > 0:50:33I'm up to catch the eight o'clock train to Madrid.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36It's near the end of my journey,
0:50:36 > 0:50:38but for my last visit, I'm off to meet someone
0:50:38 > 0:50:42whose work I admire almost more than any other living garden designer.
0:50:44 > 0:50:49He's someone who seems to have distilled all the different strands
0:50:49 > 0:50:51of Mediterranean culture -
0:50:51 > 0:50:54classical, through Islamic and modern Christian influences
0:50:54 > 0:50:58into one coherent style, combining a feeling for landscape, gardens,
0:50:58 > 0:51:01spirituality and philosophy that I find thrilling.
0:51:05 > 0:51:06This is a new phase in the journey,
0:51:06 > 0:51:09because we're off to see Mr Caruncho.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12Now, Caruncho is in my opinion, without doubt,
0:51:12 > 0:51:14one of the great garden designers.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17We've got the opportunity to meet him in his own home.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20Now, for me that's fantastic - I go as a fan.
0:51:20 > 0:51:25And I really want to find out how all this weight of history
0:51:25 > 0:51:31and cultural depth is reflected in his work in modern-day Spain.
0:51:48 > 0:51:50As befits a former student of philosophy,
0:51:50 > 0:51:55Fernando Caruncho's work reflects his knowledge of both classical antiquity,
0:51:55 > 0:51:57and Spain's Moorish history.
0:51:57 > 0:52:02He's fascinated by the deep relationship that man has with the landscape,
0:52:02 > 0:52:05and has experimented with agricultural crops
0:52:05 > 0:52:09as materials for his gardens, like his spectacular wheat garden
0:52:09 > 0:52:12at the Mas de les Voltes on Spain's Costa Brava,
0:52:12 > 0:52:14which brought him international recognition.
0:52:20 > 0:52:24This is very beautiful, Senor Caruncho. How nice to see you.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27'Senor Caruncho's home is just outside Madrid.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30'As I arrive, he greets me with his son, Pedro.'
0:52:30 > 0:52:33- How do you do?- Er...Peter. - Hello, Peter.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35This is fantastic. It is wonderful.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39It's fantastic to... for you to be in our garden.
0:52:39 > 0:52:44This is our dog. He is old. Yes, he's very old. He's very old.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47- This is very beautiful. - Ah! Thank you, Monty.
0:52:47 > 0:52:52And this is the garden, you know, in reality, like a cloister.
0:52:52 > 0:52:57It's a cloister, open in one part from the nature.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04Although completely modern,
0:53:04 > 0:53:08evidence of Spain's Islamic heritage is clear to see.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10The exterior of the house is almost windowless.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13It's warm, strong, but closed,
0:53:13 > 0:53:16balanced between modesty and privacy.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20The large pond dominates what Caruncho calls the central cloister
0:53:20 > 0:53:22at the back of the building,
0:53:22 > 0:53:25and seems to come right up and almost into to the house.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27And the water reflects the buildings,
0:53:27 > 0:53:31the clipped contours of the escallonia on the opposite bank,
0:53:31 > 0:53:34and above all, the light.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38To me, the central idea is to control the light.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42The cloister in the middle is to control the light,
0:53:42 > 0:53:44because it's very, very strong.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47This is this idea of the box,
0:53:47 > 0:53:52to do the contrast between the shadow and light, empty and full space,
0:53:52 > 0:53:58mineral and vegetable, and in the middle, the water.
0:53:58 > 0:54:03All the wall of the garden is reflecting in the water.
0:54:03 > 0:54:09And these reflections of the light produce a vibration of light.
0:54:09 > 0:54:14Very characteristic of the Islamic gardens.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16In reality, it's a sacred space.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20So do you think that this attitude is common
0:54:20 > 0:54:22in the ordinary Spanish gardener?
0:54:22 > 0:54:29Yes. Yes, because, the Spanish people have the garden inside absolutely.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32Inside us.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35Because it's a very strong memory.
0:54:35 > 0:54:39- May I see round your garden? - Oh, thank you, thank you, Monty.
0:54:39 > 0:54:44I'd like to...to show you with Peter, eh? Con Pedro.
0:54:50 > 0:54:55Everything in Fernando Caruncho's garden is very simple,
0:54:55 > 0:54:56strong and poised.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59The columns and colonnades reflect the classical orders
0:54:59 > 0:55:02that are so evident in Renaissance gardens,
0:55:02 > 0:55:05but there are none of the surface embellishments of Islamic art.
0:55:05 > 0:55:10His planting is restrained, but very subtly and skillfully clipped
0:55:10 > 0:55:13to weave a contour to mimic an entire hillside
0:55:13 > 0:55:15within the small space.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18In many gardens, there would be the temptation
0:55:18 > 0:55:21to embellish and add, and...
0:55:21 > 0:55:26- and have many different plants. - Mmm-hmm. I like it to be simple,
0:55:26 > 0:55:31like a natural. The nature don't have a lot of things,
0:55:31 > 0:55:38and the majority of our gardens have three, four species of trees...
0:55:38 > 0:55:44three or more species of shrubs...
0:55:44 > 0:55:51- Two, three species of, erm, plants to... Climb.- Climbers. Yes.
0:55:51 > 0:55:58And the flower is just to give colour and smell.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02The splendour of one moment of the garden.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05At the centre of this garden, as with all Caruncho's work,
0:56:05 > 0:56:09is a profound connection with the spirit of the place.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12It has an almost mystical relationship
0:56:12 > 0:56:14with the essence of the landscape.
0:56:14 > 0:56:18His real genius is to express this with the material resources
0:56:18 > 0:56:20available to every gardener.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24When you go in the stairs and you... you are in the...
0:56:24 > 0:56:29in the high part of the garden, you arrive in this church,
0:56:29 > 0:56:31And when you are up in this church,
0:56:31 > 0:56:35you discover the character and the landscape,
0:56:35 > 0:56:39and you are...immediately out of you.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43This...this is really... it's like a little pilgrimage.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45I understand completely.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49You don't need to read a book to understand a garden.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52You are inside the garden.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55You are in the middle.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58And in this moment, you're beginning to be transformed.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10My brief jaunt round the gardens of the Mediterranean
0:57:10 > 0:57:13has revealed how they reflect the strength
0:57:13 > 0:57:17of two very different cultures - the Classical and Islamic.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20It's also shown me how both have enriched
0:57:20 > 0:57:23and informed each other from very earliest times.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29So it feels fitting to finish here,
0:57:29 > 0:57:33in Fernando Caruncho's thoroughly modern garden,
0:57:33 > 0:57:36that synthesises not just the physical,
0:57:36 > 0:57:40but the spiritual elements of both cultures.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44That was one of the best meetings of my life.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47I knew I loved his gardens, but I tell you, I love the man.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50He's completely in tune with the way that I see the world,
0:57:50 > 0:57:52and what he's done is to refresh me and inspire me.
0:57:52 > 0:57:55I want to go and look at gardens completely differently now.
0:57:58 > 0:57:59Join me next time,
0:57:59 > 0:58:03as I visit a country with amazing indigenous flora.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06A nation that is forging a new identity for itself
0:58:06 > 0:58:10through appreciation of its environmental wonders -
0:58:10 > 0:58:11South Africa.
0:58:34 > 0:58:37Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:37 > 0:58:40E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk