Italy Road Trip 2018 – The Greenhouse Tour – Part 2

Highlights From This Trip

• 12 Days
• 40 Locations Explored
• ~500 photographs
• ~2500 miles driven
• Loop of Italy
• Return to UK via France and Belgium

This road trip blog is split into two parts; this part covers the second half of the trip, covering our journey through Italy. See photos from the first part of our Summer 2018 Road Trip here: Part 1 – South France Road Trip

After a lovely few days in the south of France, we crossed the border to Italy one evening in August. This was my first time exploring in Italy, and we had a week and a half to enjoy all the derelict and decaying beauties this country had to offer. On this leg of the trip I continued to get my fill of beautifully abandoned greenhouses; the Japanese-themed indoor garden of Villa Scorpio, the densely overgrown Steampunk Greenhouse, as well the smaller-than-expected Green World.

We would take advantage of the long daylight hours to hit as many places as we could each day, and try to keep most of the long driving stints to the darker hours after sunset. Over 12 days we covered a large area of northern and central Italy, successfully photographing 40 locations. 

Italy is well known for Manicomio, “madhouses” where the afflicted were incarcerated and subjected to brutal “treatments” in a time where mental health issues were met with little compassion or understanding. I spent hours wandering the corridors of Manicomio di R, Manicomio di VG, and Manicomio di C. Filled with the sad reflection of what horrors would have taken place in theses immense institutions.

Italy features some stunning villas, usually with grand entrance foyers and ornate staircases. These were truly the homes of the wealthy upper-class Italians. We visited some classic luxurious Italian houses, including; Villa C, Palace Tuscany, Villa Mint, Villa Bodenloss, Castello dell’ Artista, Villa Poss and Villa PDO.

The remnants of Italy’s strong religious community is represented by many abandoned churches, a sign of declining attendance among younger generations. We visited the spectacular La Chiesa Blu, and Convento B. A photographer cannot help but be in awe of the architecture of these larger churches. We also visited several smaller village churches, which make up for their more demur size with ceilings and walls covered with detailed paintings of dramatic religious scenes of sinners engulfed in firey brimstones.

We were fortunate to visit a wide array of other interesting sites. A grand red theatre with a collapsing balcony, nicknamed Teatro Balconi. Decaying industry at Pac Man Powerplant, and the hydroelectric powerplant Central Idrolettrica. Green Hospital and Red Cross Hospital, their empty wards with scattered medical equipment and stinking of damp.

This relatively long Euro trip flew by, sadly. We drove home via France and Belgium, making my third (and finally, successful) trip to Bureau Central. We finished at an algae-filled pool inside a greenhouse, nicknamed Green World. We took one last selfie before we drove back to Calais to catch our ferry home.