Pula, Garden of Villa Santa Maria

Villa Santa Maria garden. Photo by Marta Cincotti, 2025, from Catalogo BBCC.

Villa Santa Maria was built in 1838 on a project by the architect Gaetano Cima in Palladian neoclassical style, on the ruins of the ancient church of Santa Maria Pipia in an area then peripheral to Pula, along the current Viale Nora, in the direction of the ancient Roman city. The original client, the marine consul Giuseppe Angelo Randaccio, wanted an aristocratic home immersed in a natural and scenic setting, with a garden that would integrate the villa with the surrounding landscape. The garden of Villa Santa Maria, despite having undergone changes and reductions over time, retains the function of a scenic setting for the building. The entrance is marked by two entrances surmounted by lion sculptures that lead to a short avenue, enriched on the sides by ornamental vases, which leads to the main façade. The green spaces are developed with a geometric layout and include wooded areas and lawn surfaces, dotted with historic trees, such as carob and palm trees, and bordered by rose hedges. Hibiscus bushes, lantanas and other flowers characterize the chromatic impact of the garden, together with specimens of Ceyba speciosa, Erythrina humeana, Erythrina falcata, Durante, Plumeria frangipane. Bougainvillea borders develop along the edges of the garden. In the green area there is a well and a small tank with a fountain that houses examples of water lilies. The garden played a transitional role between architecture and the agricultural landscape, configuring itself as a small nineteenth-century park typical of country villas of the educated bourgeoisie.

Consult the Catalogue of Cultural Heritage — Card Giardino di villa Santa Maria NCTN 2000253038

Interesting aspects
The architectural ensemble and the garden are a rare example of an aristocratic residence with representative greenery in Sardinia, and the villa stands out for its integration of architecture, greenery and landscape. The green area of the villa looks like an Italian-style garden characterized by a regular and symmetrical layout, set on perspective axes that organize the space in geometric flower beds delimited by low hedges. Inside the flower beds, flower bushes and trees of different heights help to define the composition, creating variations in volume and color.