Parco del Castello di Spessa

 Like all ancient manors, Spessa Castle - in the heart of the Collio region of Gorizia - exerts a subtle charm on even the most distracted visitor. And it is not only because of the refined elegance of the buildings and its thousand-year history, but also because of the beauty of its centuries-old park.

The park completely surrounds the castle and is surrounded by vineyards and the green of the 18-hole golf course attached to the manor. The original nucleus stretched around the castle on the low hill where the building stands and was connected to the property in front and behind it by a straight path.

Ancient cadastral maps document a radial garden near the Castle and other geometric flowerbeds on the remaining part of the hilltop and confirm the presence of the rectilinear paths axial to the complex.

In 1872, when Count della Torre Valsassina passed away, part of the property was acquired by the Voelkl family of merchants from Trieste and part passed to the Episcopal Canteen of Gorizia. . The castle was renovated according to the design of the Triestine architect Ruggero Berlam, with some modifications to the green layout.

In 1913 the property went to the Barons Economo, from Trieste of Greek origin, who carried out some rather substantial interventions to the green estate, including the creation of the luxuriant Italian garden.

Almost all villas and castles with parks have had to endure various vicissitudes in history, especially in the last century, which was ravaged by two world wars. A fate that not even Spessa Castle escaped.

In this regard, the historian Adelchi Tirel in 'Il bunker del Castello di Spessa' recounts that: "on the very day that the Second World War ended, the Americans immediately realised that the park was full of mines: on this side and on the other side of the entrance gate, among the trees, on the avenue of horse chestnuts. So they surrounded all the mined areas with a strip of white canvas and started to party.

A marshal and his team of specialists from the Italian army had been given the task of clearing the mined area.  At that time, one could visit the castle freely and without any problems, whereas with the Germans, no one could enter.

The reclamation experts dug a trench some twenty metres from the barbed wire fences: inside they threw a long rope with a grappling hook to retract the cauldron that had fallen into the well. They threw the grappling hook in and tore out the wire fences, iron stakes, wooden boards, telephone wires, everything. Having cleaned the fences, they cut the tall May grass, slowly so as not to move the green-coloured strings of mines that reached up to instep level. The mines, which were flush with the ground, could be easily distinguished, so those guys said, because they knew them so well. And everything went well."

Later the property passed to the Segrè Sartorios, also from Trieste. In 1971, a violent storm caused the demolition of the church of Sant'Antonio, located just outside the park to the north, and much damage to the plants.

In 1987, Loretto Pali purchased the castle and began major architectural restoration of the building and landscaping of the park. In the early 2000s, the farmland in the plain immediately at the foot of the hill was turned into a golf course, preserving the central avenue of horse chestnuts.

The species

In general, the vegetation of the former parks has been destroyed, cut back and changed from its origins, and finding plants that are more than 100 years old is now extremely difficult.

At Spessa Castle, over the last thirty years, various interventions have been carried out to enhance the green planting and safeguard the oldest and rarest species.

In particular, reforestation has been carried out and new flower beds have been planted, and today the park with its well-tended lush garden is interesting for the quantity and diversity of species. A veritable Arboretum, where oaks, Italic cypresses, holm oaks, maples, farnias, lindens, plane trees, sapphoras, mulberries, photinias and catalpa, as well as exotic species such as the Spino di Giuda (Judas thorn) stand out. Interesting due to its size is a black poplar with a considerable circumference, which makes it appear to be 100 years old. From the romantic classical avenue of horse chestnuts leading up towards the castle, one can see the extensive cover of ivy and American vine.

In honour of Giacomo Casanova, who stayed in Spessa in 1773, a romantic literary promenade was laid out in the park in 2010. Amidst pergolas, balconies adorned with statues, and centuries-old trees, the path unravels in 10 stages marked by wrought-iron tables, where Casanova's phrases on love, women, friendship, and life are engraved.